Architectural Digest-2008 June

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF DESIGn june 2008
American
Country
Houses
www.ArchitecturalDigest.com
June 2008
Cover: A shingled cot-

tage on Martha’s Vine-
yard. Photography by
American 140 Deer Cabin Reverie
On the Wooded Shore of Flathead Lake,
Richard Mandelkorn.
See page 150. Above
Right: The portale of
Country Houses a One-Room Hideaway Celebrates Authentic
Camp Living
Interior Design by Mimi London
the lodge on Ted Tur- Text by Peter Haldeman
ner’s Armendaris Ranch 118 Ted Turner
in New Mexico. Archi- On His Armendaris Ranch Wild Animal Photography by David O. Marlow
tect Chris Carson de- Preserve, the Media Magnate Builds a Lodge in
signed the buildings, Tune with the Land 150 Seaside Sanctuary
and Laura Hunt did the A Cluster of Cottages on Martha’s Vineyard
interiors. See page 118. Architecture by Chris Carson, faia
Interior Design by Laura Hunt Defines Simplicity and Charm
Text by Gerald Clarke Renovation Architecture by Joseph W. Dick, aia
Photography by Robert Reck Text by Jean Strouse
Photography by Richard Mandelkorn
131 Invoking an Ideal
Romanticized Forms Pay Homage to Southern 158 Inner Directed
Architectural Traditions in a Historic Landscape Modern Pieces Bring a Former Barn into the
Architecture by Ike Kligerman Barkley 21st Century
Interior Design by Renée O’Leary Interior Design by S. Russell Groves
Text by Joseph Giovannini Text by Michael Frank
Photography by Durston Saylor Photography by Scott Frances
Robert reck
continued on page 10
8 Visit ArchitecturalDigest.com for more
In rural Connecticut,
a rebuilt barn has been
transformed into a
comfortable family re-
treat. See page 158.
170 Capturing Traditions

Georgian Details and a Collection of Americana
Lend a Period Feel to a New Residence
Architecture by Patrick J. Burke
Interior Design by David Guilmet
of Bell-Guilmet Associates
Text by Penelope Rowlands
Photography by Durston Saylor
180 One Foot in the Present

Reshaping the Ranch Aesthetic at the Base of
the Grand Teton
Architecture by Celeste Robbins, aia
Interior Design by Berta Shapiro
Text by Jeff Turrentine
Photography by Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
190 Proud Heritage

A 200-Year-Old Barn Is Born Again as a
Designer’s Own Coastal Retreat
Architectural and Interior Design
by Ellen Denisevich-Grickis
Text by Steven M. L. Aronson
Photography by Richard Mandelkorn
198 Farmhouse Abstraction

A Recreational Outbuilding Mirrors Its
Bucolic Setting
Architecture by Paul F. Shurtleff, aia
Top: Scott Frances; Bottom: Durston Saylor
Interior Design by Thad Hayes

American folk art is
Landscape Architecture by Reed Hilderbrand displayed in the great
Text by Joseph Giovannini room of a New Jersey
Photography by Scott Frances house. See page 170.
June 2008
Volume 65, Number 6
Architectural Digest,
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The historic San Ysidro

Ranch in Southern Cal-
ifornia. See page 70.
Departments 96 Design Notebook:

Spreading Out in Santa Fe
The Sprawling Rancho Alegre Rekindles the
18 This Month on Spirit of the American West in New Mexico
ArchitecturalDigest.com Architecture by Bill Tull
Text by Peter Haldeman
26 Letters Photography by Robert Reck
34 Contributors 106 Estates for Sale: Editors Select

Properties Around the World
42 Design Notebook: California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Florida …
An Anthology of Folk
In Upstate New York, a Collection Finds a Home 208 AD Directory
in a Reinvented 18th-Century Barn A Listing of the Architects, Designers and
Architecture by Robertson & Landers Hotels Featured in This Issue
Text by John Loring
Photography by Peter Aaron/Esto
58 Art Notebook: Native Beauties

Eugene V. Thaw on His Extraordinary
Compilation of North American Indian Works
By Steven M. L. Aronson
Top: Mary E. Nichols; Bottom left: Courtesy RJG Antiques; Bottom Right: Jesse Hill/Courtesy Hill Gallery
70 Hotels: San Ysidro Ranch
Charting the Remarkable Renovation of a
Storied Southern California Landmark
Restoration Architecture by Appleton & Associates
Text by Peter Haldeman
Photography by Mary E. Nichols
82 Discoveries by Designers
Architectural Digest’s Editors Present
Designers’ Sources
90 Design Notebook: Finds for collectors: an

A Winning Design for Oscar® 1880s game board (page
Architectural Digest’s Green Room at the 149) and a life-size
wood goat of the same
Academy Awards ® vintage (page 188).
Interior Design by Carleton Varney
of Dorothy Draper & Company
Text by Kelly Vencill Sanchez
Photography by Mary E. Nichols

editor-in-chief: Paige Rense
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Letters
sea Breezes
The La Jolla, California, residence by
Wallace Cunningham was visually stun-
Special kudos to Robert ning (“Attuned to the View,” April). My
favorite part of the house was the master
A. M. Stern for his proj- suite’s lounge, which looks straight out
to the ocean. And those windows—I know
ect in Seaside, Florida I would have them open all day long.
Nathan Moore
(“Making a Splash in Seattle, Washington
Seaside,” April 2008). Spring Fling

I have always admired The March 2008 issue is a great testa-
ment to AD’s range. What other maga-
the Greek Revival style for its clarity, economy and zine could have the traditional White
House as its cover and then include such
elegance. Mr. Stern proves that the classical vocab- an antithetical design as that of Grey-
stoke Mahale—the beach resort in Tan-
ulary continues to be fresh, clever and pertinent to zania—or the progressive, clean look of
the Foster + Partners house on the coast
contemporary life. To see such quality of design ex- of Japan (“A Japanese Modernism”)? AD
truly sticks to what it has always known:
ecuted on a smaller scale was most encouraging. great design of all shapes and sizes.
Tim Hartwell
— Charles G. Dobbs Houston, Texas
Hackettstown, New Jersey
touching on tradition
Ian Lambot’s photographs really cap-
coastal retreat Once upon a time ture the essence of the Sagami Bay house
I always enjoy my monthly copy of Archi- The Washington, D.C., home by José (“A Japanese Modernism”). The bright
tectural Digest, but the April issue may be Solís Betancourt (“A Capital Respect for rooms bathed in sunlight as well as the
my favorite yet. In particular, I admired the Past,” April) was like something out of Japanese references, like Norman Foster’s
Robert A. M. Stern’s take on a Florida a fairy tale. The vines covering the brick interpretation of shoji screens, succeed
beach cottage. He brought an interest- exterior, the rich wood-paneled library in mating the classic with the modern.
ing and unique architectural perspective with a roaring fire—the memento mori The colors are also minimalist but effec-
to what is a pretty standard exterior and painting above the fire was a perfect fit. tive, again staying true to an authentic
floor plan on the southeastern coast. (The Victoria Brown Japanese style. It is an intriguing bayside
single column supporting the porch roof Sacramento, California home, indeed.
really catches the eye.) The detail of the David Korgan
wood on the walls, ceilings and floors a second chance Charlotte, North Carolina
makes this house exceptionally warm, in- Years ago I visited friends living in Co-
viting and period in feeling, which can be penhagen, and I avoided going to Tivoli mellow yellow
difficult to instill in a brand-new house. Gardens, thinking it was a tourist trap. Of The idyllic Tortuga Bay (Hotels, March)
Mark Riffle course, these days I’m kicking myself for would be a relaxing vacation spot for any-
Columbus, Ohio the foolish mistake. After seeing Harry one. Every window at the resort seems to
Benson’s Tivoli Gardens in the Books have an ocean view, and the canary yel-
refuge from rock column (April), I ordered a copy online low on the walls must serve as a constant
Meat Loaf’s house was just enchanting right away. I know you’re not supposed reminder that you’re on vacation. I also
(“At Home with Meat Loaf,” April). Sim- to judge a book by its cover, but if the im- liked reading that the designers used ma-
plicity and comfort are reflected in every age on the front is any indication of the terials from the area. It supports local ar-
picture. How refreshing to hear that he contents, this book should hold me until I tisans while at the same time giving each
Peter aaron/esto
leaves “rock and roll on the road.” make it back to Denmark. of the villas a sense of belonging.
Jean Livingston Marcus Smith Janice Garza
Little Rock, Arkansas Atlanta, Georgia Carson City, Nevada
Letters
in-flight entertainment A Toronto dining

The 727 with the interiors by Craig room designed by
Powell & Bonnell
Wright (“Engines Away!” February 2008) (“All in the Details,”
reflects the “good old days” of flying, January 2008).
when taking a flight meant dressed-up
passengers and luxury. The flowers and
the ice sculpture are nice touches. I’m
sure there aren’t any baggage restrictions
for flights on this plane.
Jennifer Cooper
Albuquerque, New Mexico
french connection
The Toronto home in your January 2008
issue (“All in the Details”) was simple
and graceful. Designers David Powell
and Fenwick Bonnell created a house
that looked as if it had been transported
from Paris. The room that stood out the
most for me was the dining room. What
a beautiful picture of the doors opening
up onto the elegant and airy room. I can
imagine that a meal in there includes
great conversation and, of course, a good
glass of wine.
Daphne Peterson
Palm Beach, Florida
International delight
While perusing the January issue, I came a head start helping a first-timer
across the Kenyan retreat of Elizabeth I’m 16 years old and have aspired to be Thank you so much for your Design-
Warner (“Making a Home in Africa”). an architect from a very early age. Last ers Tell All section in the January issue. I
Although the entire residence appealed year my mother bought me a subscrip- recently bought my first home and have
to me, I was especially taken with the tion to Architectural Digest as a Christmas been completely overwhelmed with dec-
great room. The French doors let in an gift. Since then I have found so much orating tasks. The color and home office
abundance of light that shows off even inspiration for my own amateur designs features were particularly useful. Who
the smallest of details, like the geometric in your magazine. I found the Designers better to help me through this process
pattern on the area rug. Everything from Tell All interviews in the January edition than a panel of AD 100 designers?
the brightly colored sofa throws to the in- to be exceptionally beneficial to me and Lynn Stockton
tricate trunk and wood table reflects Ms. my aspirations. During the few months I Portland, Oregon
Warner’s fine taste as well as her interna- have been receiving the magazine, I have
tional upbringing. visited many breathtaking places in the prints of the past
Gail Beck world through the pages of Architectural Recently, after I purchased a Japanese
Baltimore, Maryland Digest. The articles help define my tastes, print, I was reading past issues of AD
preferences and dislikes. Your magazine when I came across the article “Art: Japa-
all-time favorite will help me prepare to be a great archi- nese Woodblock Prints.” This April 1979
The January issue has to be my choice for tect before I even finish college. I plan story helped me to identify both the art-
best cover photo ever. Dramatic and ex- on having a vast library of Architectural ist and date of my print. Thank you for a
otic all at once, it is simply perfect. Digests in the future. magazine that is timeless.
Joel Davis Nicholas Ratcliff Richard Baldwin
St. Louis, Missouri Bristol, Virginia Albany, New York
jon miller/hedrich blessing
The editors invite your comments, suggestions and criticisms.

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All submissions become the property of the publication and will not be returned.

Contributors
Our June issue has long been one of our favorites. Poring over
photographs of country houses prompts us to yearn for at least one
of them. A shingled cottage overlooking the sea on Martha’s Vine-
yard. A contemporary lodge nestled in Wyoming’s Grand Teton
valley. A former barn in Connecticut with modern interiors. A rus-
tic cabin on a lake in Montana. A 1,000-acre Virginia horse farm. A
Territorial-style ranch house in New Mexico (owned by media mogul Ted Turner). Whether
it’s used on the weekends or as a full-time residence, whether it’s whimsical, classic or awe-
inspiring, each offers its own perspective on the American country house ideal. We’ve been
publishing this issue each June for years now, and each year we are surprised and delighted
by the multifaceted creations brought to us by architects, designers and homeowners.
In this issue you’ll also find Ty Warner’s architectural restoration of the legendary San
Ysidro Ranch hotel in Santa Barbara, California; a chat with Eugene Thaw about his ex-
traordinary collection of Native American artworks; and an exclusive look at the Architectural
Digest Green Room that Carleton Varney created for the 80th Academy Awards in the unfor-
gettable style of the late, great Dorothy Draper.
To look at some of the country houses we’ve published in the past, go to our Web site,
www.ArchitecturalDigest.com. You can search for residences in particular locations and view
slide shows. While you’re there, be sure to check out the latest designs chosen by our senior
staff at our most recent Open Auditions. And don’t forget Design for Sale, where you can
find out about items available from our AD 100 designers’ signature lines—and objects from
their personal collections. We’ll see you soon on our Web site.
Paige Rense, Editor-in-Chief
robert reck (“Ted Tur- jean strouse (“Seaside Sanctu-

ner,” page 118; “Design Note- ary,” page 150). Contributing writer
book: Spreading Out in Santa Jean Strouse has been traveling
Fe,” page 96). Albuquerque, New to Martha’s Vineyard since her col-
Mexico–based Robert Reck’s as- lege days (“I love it in all seasons,” she
top: harry benson; bottom left: jamey stillings/courtesy robert reck; bottom right: richard lee
signments for this month’s issue confides), and she found it a particu-
kept him in his home state—and lar pleasure to interview Roseline
in the shadows of media tycoons. and Bill Glazer, who bought and
Besides shooting Rancho Alegre, renovated a ramshackle cottage
the late R. Michael Kammerer, Jr.’s Santa Fe compound, contributing on the island. “From an early descrip-
photographer Reck ventured to Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch, which tion of the Glazers’ views, I could
looks out to the Fra Cristobal Mountains. There he caught up with tell exactly where the house would
Turner, whom he had never met (although he had shot his Vermejo be,” she says. “The location is truly
Park Ranch [see Architectural Digest, June 2005], also in New Mexico, a spectacular.” And she adds: “Talking with Roseline Glazer was a de-
few years before), and took his portrait. Turner, he says, “was very gra- light. She cares about every inch—every floorboard, every plant, every
cious. Passionate about environmental issues, he is deeply concerned cedar shingle—of her property, and she loves telling stories about
with energy consumption and conservation. His house is wonderful the entire long-term project.” Asked if she would ever tackle a similar
and totally appropriate for the site.” Also there was designer Laura renovation, Strouse admits, “The idea of finding property in a per-
Hunt, who took him on a tour around the ranch. “We came upon a herd fect spot, with structures that need rescue and reimagining, has
of antelope, and, as a result of her skillful driving, I was able to get a always greatly appealed to me. I haven’t acted on the idea, though—
great shot of them running through the desert,” he remembers. at least not yet.”
Contributors
steven M. L. aronson (“Proud Heri- Steve Hall (“One Foot in the

tage,” page 190; “Art Notebook: Native Beau- Present,” page 180). “I never felt
ties,” page 58). “When I drove up to see the like I could touch a view quite the
Thaw collection of North American Indian way I could there,” photographer
art in Cooperstown, New York,” says contrib- Steve Hall says of the vistas from
uting writer Steven M. L. Aronson, “I made the windows in a Wyoming ranch
it a point to take along my American water house by Celeste Robbins. Hall,
spaniel. His previous owner had—with great who has shot projects by the archi-
expectations—named him Hawkeye after tect for 12 years, points out that
the tracker in James Fenimore Cooper’s Last his fellow Chicagoan was able to
of the Mohicans (only to give the dog the boot when he stubbornly fluidly integrate her brand of
refused to hunt), and the Thaw collection happens to be housed in a “clean, timeless modernism, which
museum on the site of Cooper’s original homestead. The director there runs through her other work” into the residence. “She kept it simple
graciously had my own Hawkeye photographed for me on the very and beautiful,” he says. Hall’s photographs appear in the monograph
grounds where Cooper’s Hawkeye was conceived. The Thaw collection Ross Barney Architects: Process + Projects, from Images Publishing.
turned out to be a revelation—what those Native Americans managed
to do with a little clay, some birch bark or a bunch of porcupine quills
was nothing short of a wonder to behold.” penelope rowlands
(“Capturing Traditions,” page
170). Contributing writer
david o. marlow (“Deer Penelope Rowlands sees “an
Cabin Reverie,” page 140). “It’s very inherent paradox” in a New
Montana and real. You just want to Jersey house by architect
stoke the fire, grab a book and lie Patrick J. Burke and designer
down on the couch,” contributing David Guilmet for a couple
photographer David O. Marlow with a lifelong interest in
says of the cabin that Mimi Lon- antiques. At first glance, it’s
don, with whom he has frequently a Georgian-inspired coun-
worked, designed for Connie and try house, within which is a
Martin Stone. “She fixed it up but museum-worthy collection
retained its character and didn’t of antiques and thoughtful
make it fancy. Mimi is so versatile details, including wings off the main structure built to appear as if they
that she can pull off anything. She just hit a home run.” Marlow was were later additions and a Palladian window on the second floor copied
especially delighted by a few London touches: a powder room that con- from an 18th-century example. On closer inspection, however, the resi-
second row: courtesy david o. marlow, marina faust; third row: harry benson, adam holtzman/courtesy richard mandelkorn
sists of a mirror tied to a tree, and feed sacks and hay bales that serve dence is “modern—it’s very open and light,” notes Rowlands. “Things
as outdoor seating. He also had a great time getting to know Connie flow perfectly.”
Stone, a fellow golf enthusiast. At the moment, Marlow is in the midst
of book projects for David Easton and Craig Wright.
richard mandelkorn (“Seaside
Sanctuary,” page 150; “Proud Heritage,” page
first row: hans neleman/courtesy steven m. l. aronson, courtesy steve hall/hedrich blessing
john loring (“Design 190). Shooting a restored barn in Rhode Is-
Notebook: An Anthology of land was a uniquely poignant experience for
Folk,” page 42). When period Richard Mandelkorn. “I grew up in a barn in
structures are renovated, re- the hills of western Connecticut, in Litch-
stored or repurposed, “often the field County,” says the photographer, whose
experience of the building is lost. bedroom, from ages 10 to 18, was in what
You don’t have the spirit of what had been the hayloft. Mandelkorn has fond
it was before,” laments contrib- memories of the place, located “on the high
uting writer—and Tiffany’s de- side of a valley at the end of a dirt road. Snow would rip down the val-
sign director—John Loring. So ley. When the wind blew, the timbers would rattle,” he recalls. “Three-
it was gratifying for Loring to quarters of it was living space and open to the roof, with a fireplace at
see the care actor Jim Dale and one end.” Though the geography was different, Mandelkorn saw plenty
his wife, gallery owner Julie of similarities between his childhood house and the restored barn El-
Dale, and architect Malcolm Robertson took in turning an 18th-centu- len Denisevich-Grickis and her husband, Bill Grickis, use as a summer
ry barn into a country house in upstate New York. Their work “doesn’t residence. “It had the same sort of feel—open up to the ceiling, with
deny the past of the building,” says Loring. His next book, Tiffany Style, rough-hewn beams. It’s built by hand, and you can see the cut of the ax.
is due out in November from publisher Harry N. Abrams. It takes me home.”

Design Notebook
An Anthology of Folk
In Upstate New York, a Collection Finds a Home in a Reinvented 18th-Century Barn
Architecture by Robertson & Landers/Text by John Loring/Photography by Peter Aaron/Esto
W
hether creating and the popular British actor New York began in 1989 with Rather than build an entirely new
a handsome and and comedian known for his the purchase of an 89-acre house, actor Jim Dale and his wife,
Julie, a gallery owner, opted to re-
generously pro- roles in the Carry On films tract of woodlands with a 30- assemble the skeleton of a mid-18th-
portioned country retreat out and as the voice of the Harry acre lake. A hilltop overlook- century barn on their upstate New
of a mid-18th-century barn Potter audiobooks—are fine- ing the lake was selected York property. They worked with
Malcolm Robertson, of Robertson
skeleton of massive 40-foot tuned to the alluring charms as the site to relocate the re- and Landers Architects, to make it
hand-hewn beams or collect- of craft. They are keenly aware mains of a 250-year-old barn. into a peaceful retreat.
ing works of folk art made of art, objects, furnishings and, After a fire destroyed the barn
from bottle caps, Popsicle of course, architecture that before it could be moved, they
sticks, pottery shards or sim- transform the most humble were fortunate enough to find
ply twigs, Julie and Jim Dale— materials into works of great another, from the same period
respectively the owner of Julie personality and beauty. and with the same footprint,
Artisans’ Gallery in Manhattan Their odyssey in upstate continued on page 44
Design Notebook
Craft and folk art fill the residence. Above: Brightly hued ki-
lims and a wearable art piece by Jean Williams Cacicedo, hang-
ing above the fireplace, provide color and delineate spaces in the
soaring great room. Of the layout, Julie Dale explains, “We
wanted to keep it true to its original function.” Right: A striped
rug by Leza McVey is on the floor of the west balcony.
continued from page 42 colm Robertson, of Robert-

that would become the core of son & Landers Architects, is,
a rural haven. like Jim Dale, from the north
A 40-by-40-foot barn can- of England and possesses, as
not, of course, accommodate a does Dale, a very British love
family, but the Dales wanted to of country life coupled with an
keep the barn’s integrity. “To innate feel for the seamless in-
preserve the way a barn should tegration of structure and set-
be,” Jim Dale explains, “you ting. His youth in the unspoiled
build rooms on the outside, land around Newcastle upon
not on the inside. Conversions Tyne bred an instinctive aes-
quite often divide a barn into thetic sense. “My architecture
various rooms and end up with initiates from intuitions that I
a house rather than a barn.” So then pursue,” he explains.
an architect was hired to make That such a famous film
the barn into living spaces and and musical comedy star as
to design a two-story wing on Jim Dale and his architect saw
either side. eye to eye on the barn con-
The chosen architect, Mal- continued on page 46
Design Notebook
“We had spent many years antiquing continued from page 44 get some light, as you do in a
version had much to do with cathedral—light penetrating to
in England and elsewhere and shifted gears their shared sympathy for the flood into the volume—so
to focus on the American folk markets.” authentic. “We’re born with it in
our DNA,” Jim Dale states.
there are a number of small
windows, which, unless you’re
Actor and architect agreed 20 feet tall, you’re not going to
that using the old barn as the be able to look out from.”
heart of the house would be the The building completed, the
guide for the project. “We Dales turned their attention to
maintained the 18th-century the interiors. “In furnishing the
flair in terms of massing and in barn proper, our first challenge
an aesthetic that was relatively was to adjust our ideas about
subdued,” Robertson observes. scale,” recalls Julie Dale. “For
“The barn, rather than archi- the great room, we needed to
tectural details, was always to think big. We started with large
be the dominant force. The kilims to define areas of use
windows are small, which is in and to hang on the gable ends
line with the 18th century. to add color and softness to the
However, in the central 40- masculine structure. Then rus-
foot-high space, we needed to continued on page 48
Above: Tucked under the roof, the mezzanine serves as a seat-

ing area. Mixed with the set of rattan furniture are wood
wheel models and a clown’s head garbage lid, possibly from
Luna Park on Coney Island. Left: An antique penny rug
is between windows in the master bedroom. The bolster is by
Mario Rivoli, an artist Julie Dale represents at her gallery.
Design Notebook
continued from page 46

tic furniture created for old
Adirondack camps set the tone.
We had spent many years an-
tiquing in England and else-
where and now shifted gears
to focus on the American folk
markets. As the interior per-
sonality of the barn unfolded,
we found that the wings took
on a more playful folk attitude,
while the barn proper became
more camplike.”
Of the trove of objects that
now fills the house, Jim Dale
notes, “We’ve collected many
things made by country people
who used their hands to create
something wonderful out of
even the cheapest things. Dur-
ing the 1930s, when people had
no money, they took a cap off a
bottle and realized they at least
had a bottle cap to work with,
and they could use the cork
from the inside of the cap to
create something else. Those
country people were real art- like before conversion to a Above: Planters, vases and tables decorated with pot-
ists. We began with one or three-bedroom house. It sits tery shards enliven the screen porch. The wicker
and metal pieces of furniture are vintage finds. Lin-
two bottle-cap figures or cork surrounded by flower beds ing a wall are English Art Nouveau tiles.
boxes, and before we knew it, overlooking the lake, no satel-
there was a collection.” lite dish to spoil the picture, Below: The south façade. Robertson added a wing
Reflecting on the project, all telephone and electrical on either side of the barn but maintained, says Jim
Jim Dale muses: “It is our hope cables buried underground, its Dale, “as much as possible of the barn’s spirit.” Be-
low Left: Julie and Jim Dale on the property’s 30-
that the barn will be around for now-faded red stain giving one acre lake. “Great pains have been taken to keep the
a long time to come, to show the impression the barn has lake edge natural and undisturbed,” notes Julie Dale.
future generations what an been there forever. We hope it
original settlers’ barn looked will be.” l
Art Notebook
Native Beauties
Eugene V. Thaw on His Extraordinary Compilation of North American Indian Works
By Steven M. L. Aronson
there should be buses leaving ev-

ery 15 minutes from every terminal
and beating a path to the door
of the fenimore art museum in up-
state new york—that collection
you gave them is something that
no one who loves art can afford
to miss. i was fascinated to see
that a lot of the 800 arrestingly
beautiful objects on hand are util-
itarian, relating to warfare and
hunting and harvesting and feast-
ing. and a fair number of them, i
learned, are incontestably the
best of their kind—milestones of
american indian inventiveness. ev-
ery region and category of north
american indian material culture
is represented, from prehistory to
present day. how long did it take
you to put all this together?
This was what I call my whirlwind collec-
tion—it’s been estimated that I bought one
piece every four days for 10 years.
when exactly did you promise it to

the museum?
john bigelow taylor/thaw collection, fenimore art museum, cooperstown, new york
In the early ’90s, and on the strength of
that promise they went ahead and built an
18,000-square-foot wing to accommodate
it all, which—I have to hand it to them—
goes very nicely with the neo-Georgian
architecture of their circa 1930 main build-
ing. It’s right on the site of James Fenimore
Cooper’s original farmhouse, on the shores
of the lake that he gave the name Glim-
A Nez Perce horse merglass in a couple of his frontier novels.
mask, circa 1875–1900, The real name of the lake is Otsego, which
features horsehair, in Iroquois—and the entire Cooperstown
feathers, glass beads
and brass buttons. area was once Iroquois country—means
roughly “a place to come together by the
water.” When the wing opened in 1995,
Art Notebook

the Tadodaho himself—the speaker of
the chiefs of the whole six-tribe Iroquois
Confederacy—gave the thanksgiving ad-
dress. Then another one of the chiefs did
the Tree of Peace planting, speaking and
singing something in Mohawk and then
translating it at length into English. In the
heat of a brutal summer day there in up-
state New York, people began to collapse
and faint, but when the chief saw all the
swooning, he pointed out, “You know, this
is just the short version—the regular way
takes four days.”
how did you get into indian—i

mean, you of all people, whose
thing has always famously been
old-master paintings and drawings?
Above: The Tsimshian used carved and
Well, I retired from the business of art way painted maple and abalone shell for a circa
back in 1986. I had simply lost the joy of 1840–70 frontlet. Right: An Ojibwa
it—art had turned from connoisseurship bandolier bag, circa 1870, is made of cot-
ton, wool yarn, velvet and glass beads.
into monetary value, or future monetary
value, and become terribly cheapened in
the process. And since then, of course, the
dynamism of that aspect of the art world
has increased exponentially, which is even
more dispiriting. I had just enough money
to retire gracefully and do what I wanted— how did you ever end up in at least you picked a place to
and the market was strong, so I also made new mexico? settle in that didn’t suffer from
a little money. And I had my charitable I was asked to appraise the art in the Geor- a lack of galleries.
foundation in New Mexico to keep me gia O’Keeffe estate—they wanted some- But the art they were selling in Santa Fe
busy, which I’d created from the sale of a one who was not in the O’Keeffe market was terrible! Tourist art, for the most part.
single painting I owned that had been on yet knowledgeable enough to do the job. There were a few dealers in traditional
loan to the Frick for several years—Van So I went down there in April of ’86, the Native American around, but you really
Gogh’s upright Flowering Garden. There’s month after she died, and my wife, Clare, had to know what you were doing, and
a horizontal Flowering Garden, too. That’s and I soon decided to buy a house in Santa to that end I quickly sought out my old
in the museum in The Hague. Fe. I wanted to be too far away from New acquaintance Ralph Coe, who had relo-
York to be able to commute there easily, cated to Santa Fe. He was someone I had
and this was ideally that far. And ideal in done business with when he was the direc-
other ways, too—the mountain vistas were tor of the great Nelson-Atkins Museum
supernally beautiful. And then, because I’m of Art in Kansas City—I’d sold him that
someone who needs to have something to famous Monet that was in the first Im-
collect, I began to look for a project where pressionist exhibition of 1874, Boulevard
I could continue to exercise my eye—go des Capucines. Anyway, “Ted” knew his
on using it to distinguish better from way around American Indian art as both
worse and then the definitively best from collector and scholar—he had, after all,
the better. I was seeking an outlet for my organized the “Sacred Circles” bicenten-
collecting energies, you could say. nial exhibition that covered 2,000 years
of the stuff.
had you ever bought an american
indian object before? he’s recounted how he advised you
No, although I remember being bowled that there were great things to
over by René d’Harnoncourt’s “Indian be had in this field that were “the
Above: A circa 1450–1500 poly-
Art of the United States” exhibition at products of cultures as complete
chrome vessel was discovered at
the Sikyatki pueblo in north- the Museum of Modern Art when I was a and rounded, and as challenging
eastern Arizona in the 1960s. teenager—1941, I think that was. continued on page 62
Art Notebook
Left: Buckskin, glass beads and tin cones

distinguish a circa 1895 girl’s dress by the
Teton Sioux. Above: The Hurons in Que-
bec made moccasins from black-dyed hide,
moose hair and silk, 1847–53.
continued from page 60 you’re saying that a great ameri- sion, for workmanship, craftsmanship, art-
to a connoisseur, as any you might can indian object can be the istry. Surface appearance—patina—was an
have dealt with.” and around the equal of an old-master or impres- important consideration, too, every bit as
same time, you told me, some other sionist painting or an object much as it would be in Greek and Roman
great authority called your at- from antiquity? or medieval art: the effect of wear on ivory
tention to a diary entry made by Oh, absolutely. And by the way, they’re or metal or copper after hundreds or thou-
dÜrer in 1520 expressing his amaze- priced like that—pretty much so—now. sands of years of handling. A lot of Indian
ment at the aztec featherwork The market has changed a lot—it’s less art is fugitive and fragile. Weavings, for
that cortÉs had sent back to lively, there are fewer players, but the instance. And things that were done with
charles v. did you get all fired up prices have gotten way out of line. The porcupine-quill coloring—two weeks in
by any of this? good things have really taken off. A mask the light and they fade, so you want to
I realized that I was going to have to see that, when I began collecting, cost me try and find pieces where the color’s not
for myself. And, as always with me, aes- $100,000—a similar one went just now for all washed out.
thetic quality would be the deciding fac- $1.8 million. And in Paris, at the auction
tor. I was determined to look at American house Drouot, I spent around $375,000— what was your first acquisition?
Indian material as art, not ethnography— at the time the world-record price for Clare spotted an attractive Victorian bead-
ethnography would be the last consider- an American Indian art object—for an ed pillow sham in a local shop. It turned
ation, in fact. You have to look at the ob- 18th-century Tlingit war helmet with a out to be of Athabascan origin—later we
ject itself, separately and apart, and have fantastic bird’s head carved in wood on found it reproduced in color in a cata-
it be the chief guide to its own being, as top and a crest of bristly human hair that logue. We’d bought it for only $500. As it
it were. Whatever status it might enjoy as today would be bound to fetch well over was emblazoned with the American flag,
an example of Native American lifeways, a million. I decided to buy some more flag-embel-
you have to evaluate it clearly and coldly lished stuff to try to make that a theme:
as art and forget all about context, put ar- how did you manage to refocus a pair of Sioux leggings, a beaded Sioux
chaeology and anthropology totally aside. your so-called “european” eye? violin case from 1899, and on and on until
Which is why this collection reflects my There are standard aesthetic principles we had over 50 objects. I became known
aesthetic sensibility as surely as any of my that can be applied to the work of all civili- in the trade as the flag man! It had just
others. Because what I ultimately discov- zations. An eye is an eye is an eye, whatever snowballed—we’d gotten excited by the
ered was that American Indian could hold you train it on, and I was able to teach my- fact that you could still find things, you
its own with any art anywhere—it could self to read the visual language of Indian know. Then I branched out and bought
stand alongside Asian, African, Egyptian, art. It’s all the same business, really—of a wonderfully carved Makah mask, and
European and Maori masterpieces. looking for quality, for depth of expres- continued on page 64
Art Notebook
cent thing: There are sea lion whiskers

set into the edge of the visor, abalone
shell inlaid in the eyes and an ancestral-
crest image of a bear with upright paws
all sheathed in copper. As you can tell,
I’m more strongly drawn to objects that
are sculptural, three-dimensional—and
there the great Northwest Coast carvings
and Eskimo masks take precedent—than
I am, let’s say, to beadwork and quilts and
Plains material.
Above: Dat So La Lee’s 1904–5 basket is
constructed of western redbud and bracken tell me about some of your other
root. Right: A Micmac wool, glass bead large-scale collecting coups.
and silk pouch, circa 1840–50.
Another big one was a multimillion-dollar
en-bloc purchase from the man who was
continued from page 62 public, and later I proposed that the open without question the best private dealer
that paved the way for many Northwest storage in the Fenimore wing be modeled in American Indian art, George Terasaki.
Coast purchases. And then an Aleutian Is- on that. Some of my greatest treasures—especially,
lands lidded basket that was just superbly again, Northwest Coast, which is the high-
worked—so closely woven it could pass i guess one really has to know a est Indian art—came from him. He had an
for linen. And a sensational Plateau horse field before one can own it. did apartment on East 78th Street, right off
mask with a clutch of red-shafted-flicker your old dealer friends think you Madison, in a building that at one time
feathers on top and a mane of horsehair had taken leave of your aesthetic I operated out of the ground floor of,
attached along the back. And then a mas- senses when you began collecting myself. He was difficult, but I was able to
sive 18th-century eastern Great Lakes burl american indian in earnest? make packages of things a couple of times
maple feast bowl that had been deacces- No, no, they understood that it wasn’t with him—buy a group of objects. Paying
sioned from the Wadsworth Atheneum in bows and arrows I was collecting. Someone too much, of course, but not as much too
Hartford. I was off and running. like Bill Acquavella, when I told him, said, much as he’d originally wanted. These
“Just make sure you end up having the best were marathon negotiating sessions—we
top Left and top right: Richard Walker/thaw collection, fenimore art museum, cooperstown, new york; portrait: harry benson
where did you find all these things? collection.” And I like to think I did. The wound up having to employ a go-between,
It’s a fairly small world, the world of the best collection formed in my generation, who managed to get each of us to bend,
American Indian collectors and dealers, at any rate. What helped move it along in George to come down enough and me to
and your name gets out there. I began to that direction was when I got the chance come up enough. But whatever the sting,
acquire market recognition as someone to buy a beautiful group of 14 Northwest it was worth it. How do you put a price,
who might want the great pieces that Coast objects from the Chicago collector for instance, on something as unique as
could surface at any time from God knows Stefan Edlis in the late '80s. continued on page 66
where. And also, some of my academic
friends, experts in the field, would tip me he’s been in the news lately—for
off if something especially fine was coming selling warhol’s turquoise marilyn
up at auction. I’d make up my own mind for $80 million to one of those bil-
about whether or not to buy it—it was my lionaire hedge-fund guys, and also
taste and my judgment—but I did like to for maybe being the anonymous
get recommendations. buyer at auction of a $40 million–
I also compiled quite a library on the plus bacon self-portrait.
subject. And I visited museums all over the Well, it was his Indian things certainly
world—I told you, I was revved up—to that put me in a different category. All of
look at the greatest examples of things and a sudden I was the owner of masterworks,
learn major object types. The wonderful major historic pieces—take that Tsimshian
museum at the University of British Co- frontlet headdress with the face of a thun- Collector, dealer, educator and philanthro-
pist Eugene V. Thaw (above) amassed one of
lumbia at Vancouver had an open-storage derbird and the nose that’s all marvelously
the world’s most important Native American
gallery where the part of its collection that beaked and curled, or that Tlingit clan art collections and then gave it to Coopers-
was not on display was still visible to the hat made of wood. Now that’s a magnifi- town, New York’s Fenimore Art Museum..
Art Notebook
an articulated raven mask where the carv- us personally, but now that we were going
ing of the upper and lower mandibles and public, so to speak, we had to broaden and
the delineation of the eyebrows are out expand, fill in the holes, buy the greatest
of this world? Or a pipe that depicts in examples from every region and period.
the most painstaking detail a large bear So then I really went to town—I went on
devouring a cadaverous shaman? Not to a binge and bought far more strenuously
mention some incomparable bowls and than I had when I was buying merely
staggeringly beautiful daggers. for myself.
And on the heels of this, I succeeded in
buying another core collection: 17 Cana- what sort of stuff did you buy?
dian Woodlands objects in mint condition, I added considerably to my southwest-
all of them bright and unfaded, including ern holdings by acquiring the Santa Fe
a pair of Micmac moccasins with moose- art dealer Gerald Peters’s personal col-
hair embroidery, and a birchbark canoe lection of Pueblo and Navajo weavings,
model with paddler. These came from the among them a first-phase chief’s blanket
11th Earl of Elgin—straight out of a trunk of such quality that it would surely have
full of artifacts in the attic of one of his cost as much as 50 horses when it was
castles in Scotland. His great-grandfather, made. There was one that turned up on—I
the eighth earl, was governor general of don’t know if you ever watch that stupid
Canada in the mid–19th century and was program on public television—Antiques
given most of these things as presentation Roadshow. Somebody brought in a chief’s
pieces by the Native peoples. blanket that they just had sort of over a
chair in their house, and they were flab-
what made you decide to give all bergasted when they were informed that
this precious, if not priceless, it was worth half a million dollars and
material away? that they had a national treasure. And
Once it reached a certain mass—when then when I discovered that the Taylor
I had about 300 pieces of high quality Museum in Colorado Springs wanted to
and our house was positively overflowing deaccession their Northwest Coast art
with the stuff, and I mean walls, drawers, in order to concentrate on the South-
floors, tabletops, bookshelves—we began west, which was the area they served, I
trying to find the right home for it. Its snapped it all up. This got me, among
final resting place, if you will. Clare and some other fine things, the famous Kwa-
I were never comfortable with the idea kiutl potlatch figure of a man gesturing
of a lovingly assembled collection such as with the index finger of his right hand and
ours being dispersed at auction after we holding a copper shield against his chest
were gone. We decided to give it to the with his left.
New York State Historical Association in
Cooperstown because their crown jewel, did you find any memorable masks?
the Fenimore Art Museum, already had I did get my hands on a distinguished
a considerable collection of folk art and group of Eskimo specimens, including a
American 19th century. Frankly, it would couple of pairs of exquisite miniature fin-
be hard to envision a more ideal destina- ger masks. The women, you see, weren’t
tion for it—the place had geographical, permitted to dance barehanded when they
historical and, through James Fenimore petitioned the gods for things like abun-
Cooper’s epic novels, literary ties to the dance for the coming year—they had to
American Indian. And besides, we had hold a mask in each hand. As part of the
maintained a large farm in the area our- temptation for me to buy them—and they
selves for many years. The architect Hugh were expensive—the hopeful seller pulled
Hardy was chosen to do the wing—he’d out a big French book of Eskimo masks
designed a building nearby for the Glim- that featured them, along with masks from
merglass Opera, where I was on the board the collection of André Breton, one of the
at the time. founders of Surrealism. American Indian
material was popular with the Surrealists,
and you continued collecting. you know—Max Ernst and Paul Éluard
And how! Up to this point we had col- also had important collections.
lected only those objects that appealed to continued on page 68
Art Notebook
did you manage to and all of that. It came up at
get hold of any great Sotheby’s in 1994 and went
baskets? for the second-highest price
I have the most fantastic basket. ever paid for Indian art at the
I bought it from the grandson time—almost $400,000. I was
of a Pittsburgh steel magnate the underbidder. But when the
who had paid so much for it buyer told me that he was go-
in 1914 that it made all the ing to break the book up and
papers—$1,400, believe me, sell the drawings separately,
was an unprecedented sum because that was the only way
then for an Indian basket. It’s to recoup his investment, I of-
Washoe—that’s the tribe—and fered him 10 percent profit,
it was woven, 30 stitches per and he took it.
linear inch, by … Well, Lou-
isa Keyser was her American it says somewhere that
name—her Native name was you took great care to
Dat So La Lee, which I was avoid anything directly
told means “big hips.” She’s associated with human
the most famous Native basket remains.
weaver of North America, and Yeah, on the grounds that
this is her most famous basket, anything involved with an
the most historically significant actual physical burial should
basket of her career. It’s known stay there. Where it belongs.
as Beacon Lights. The design Native Americans have asked
is a scatter pattern of crosses many museums to return their
repeated in rows. The crosses skeletons to them—along with
symbolize light or heat, and the the goods that were found with
wavy lines around them rep- them. And we have nothing
resent flames—supposedly to like that. We weren’t going to
commemorate the big signal shoot ourselves in the foot by
fires that the Washoes built in having stuff like that.
the mountains to call members
of the tribe together in coun- did you keep anything
cil from far and wide. A basket back for yourself?
like that is worth over a million I have a few baskets in the
dollars today. house, and one or two pieces
of local pottery. They’ll even-
i was particularly tually go to the museum, too.
enthralled by the bound
book of dream draw- you will then have
ings by the sioux chief shared absolutely every-
black hawk. thing.
That’s a world masterpiece— It’s the Indians, rather, who
probably as fine as any ledger will have—they have so much
book in existence. I’d been to share with all of us. My
looking for a long time for hope has always been that the
one of those complete books collection can serve as an in-
of an Indian draftsman. This spiration to carry respect for-
one is from the 1880s and has ward. We are at the beginning
depictions of Native social and of this chain, not the end—
religious life as well as studies and that’s an optimistic place
of local natural history. It’s all to be. l
done in pencil and crayon in a
flat pictographic style so unlike Visit ArchitecturalDigest.com for
the tradition of Renaissance the 10 Steven M. L. Aronson in-
to modern drawing, which terviews with Eugene V. Thaw
has shading and perspective that have been published to date.
Hotels
San Ysidro Ranch

Charting the Remarkable Renovation of a Storied Southern California Landmark
Restoration Architecture by Appleton & Associates/Text by Peter Haldeman/Photography by Mary E. Nichols
I
t’s the kind of place where ings, storybook cottages and
people check in with their rambling gardens were be-
pugs—registering the little ginning to look a little shabby,
darlings as Jack and Jackie in the ranch was beloved enough
the guest book—and where fel- that visitors were willing to
low guests will recognize both overlook its flaws. San Ysidro
the dogs’ famous namesakes was sort of like everyone’s fa-
and the fact that the 35th Amer- vorite maiden aunt, the one
ican president and his wife with the good bones and the
honeymooned here. Such is slightly ratty sweaters. In 2000
the lore surrounding the San the property was purchased
Ysidro Ranch, a fairy-tale-pic- by Ty Warner, the so-called
turesque resort in Santa Bar- Beanie Baby billionaire, whose
bara, California, that was once plans to renovate the place
owned by film star Ronald sparked concern among the
Colman, hosted the nuptials faithful that any “improve-
of Vivien Leigh and Laurence ments” would compromise
Olivier and has inspired writ- its understated charms. They
ers from Somerset Maugham can breathe again. Auntie has
to Sinclair Lewis. San Ysidro’s emerged from a three-year,
19th-century history as a citrus $150 million face-lift—and,
ranch only adds to the nostal- frankly, she looks amazing.
gia and romance that hover Warner interviewed a num-
over the place like the scent of ber of architects for the job,
navel orange blossoms. but it’s hard to imagine a more
If, by the end of the 20th cen- likely candidate than Marc
tury, its historic stone build- continued on page 72
Purchased by Ty Warner in 2000, San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Cali-

fornia, has undergone a three-year renovation by architect Marc Appleton.
“My vision was to make the needed improvements without changing its in-
nate character,” says Warner. Above: Appleton opened up the reception
cottage, called the Hacienda, to the surrounding garden. Right: Olive trees
and lavender line the new entrance drive.
Hotels

Appleton. Appleton, whose
“What guests at the ranch
grandparents commissioned come away with is this
architect George Washington marvelous setting with the
Smith to build one of the fin-
est Spanish Colonial Revival gardens and trees.”
houses in Santa Barbara and
who has fond memories of
dining at the ranch as a boy,
has made the restoration and
construction of period revival
residences in California and
elsewhere the cornerstone of
his career. When he was ap-
proached by Warner, he ar-
ticulated two key concepts.
“I said that I felt a successful
project would be one where
Top: Appleton and project architect Ken Mineau reworked those familiar with the ranch
the entrance to the Stonehouse restaurant and the Plow & An- would come back and be a little
gel bar and restaurant just below and created a new terrace,
at right, with “radiant heating and a fireplace and great ocean confused as to what was new
and mountain views,” notes Appleton. Above: Patio dining. and what was old. The second
thing was that I felt this was
Right: The 1825 Adobe is the oldest building at the ranch and more of a landscape project,
a California historic landmark. “We very gingerly made some almost, than an architectural
minor repairs and did some structural work,” Appleton says.
one. Because I think what
guests at the ranch come away
Hotels
continued from page 72 nia ranch house, with board- installed, but not at the expense the sandstone structure that
with is this marvelous setting and-batten siding and pitched of character. The footprints houses them was refreshed.
with the gardens and trees.” shingle roofs. To make them of the bungalows were main- Appleton replaced its old wood
At the same time, the archi- more private and intimate, tained, and their homey hall- deck with a stone terrace that
tect harbored no illusions re- Appleton designed entrance marks (exposed beams, stone matches the building’s exterior
garding the scope of the job: courtyards and enlarged pa- fireplaces) still enchant. and takes full advantage of the
“There isn’t a single building tios. Amenities like spas and The ranch’s two restaurants ranch’s ocean and mountain
that wasn’t totally restored or, indoor-outdoor showers were were given a new kitchen, and continued on page 76
in some cases, rebuilt entirely.”
He is quick to credit Warner’s
commitment to the project.
“It’s rare that a client as busy
as he is gives the time to cham-
pion such high quality or be-
comes as personally involved
in the details as he did.”
The cottages scattered
around the property (two
were added, for a total of 41)
were taken down to the studs
and “brought into the same
mode” of the classic Califor-
“We preserved the architectural fea-

tures of the cottages,” Appleton
remarks. Above: Lilac, a one-bed-
room cottage. “The garden was
a constant element of almost every-
thing,” says the architect, who col-
laborated with landscape consultants
Laurie Lewis, Sally Paul and James
Hyatt on the renovation. Right:
A fireplace warms Willow Cottage.
Hotels
Above Left: A bedroom of the restored Kennedy Cottage, where

Jacqueline and John Kennedy honeymooned in 1953. Above Right:
A clawfoot tub in Eucalyptus Cottage. All of the cottages were
outfitted with new bath fixtures and tile. Some also offer indoor-
outdoor showers. Left: The new Laurel Cottage has a creekside
terrace with a spa. “We redesigned the roadway and the landscaping,
so there’s an increased sense of privacy,” says Appleton.
continued from page 74 he explains. With the assistance

views. Under the terrace he of landscape consultants Lau-
put in a private dining room rie Lewis, Sally Paul and James
styled after a wine cave, and Hyatt, he expanded the prop-
under the dining room he in- erty’s citrus groves and herb and
stalled a 5,000-bottle wine cel- vegetable gardens and enhanced
lar. The historic ranch houses the central garden with a new
that function, respectively, as lily pond and rose arbor. War-
the reception area and a sec- ner selected oaks and peppers
ond private dining room were to supplement existing speci-
invisibly restored. mens, and the premises have
As Appleton intended, it’s been replanted with highly fra-
the improvements to the grant perennials. Surely Cali-
grounds that you notice first fornia’s agrarian past was never
and last. Now you make the this pretty—but then, mythol-
turn off San Ysidro Lane onto ogizing the state’s history is as
a gravel drive that winds below old as the state itself. l
a dreamy canopy of gnarled
olive trees underplanted with
drifts of lavender. “It was part San Ysidro Ranch
of our concept that we were
reminding you of the agricul- 800-368-6788
tural beginnings of the ranch,” www.sanysidroranch.com
Discoveries by Designers
Bank on It
A circa 1860 chalkware bank, $1,250,
in the shape of a dove, offered by
Hamilton, Ohio, dealers Claude and
Sharon Baker (www.claudeand
sharonbaker.com; 513-726-5496)
claude and Sharon BAker: Jim Callaway; Le Trianon: Richard Mandelkorn; Hedge: Courtesy Hedge; Schumacher: Billy Cunningham
is a rare survivor—most were broken
open to retrieve the saved money.
A Bed in
the Berkshires
Topping out at over six feet, a bed, $8,900, at Le Trianon is
a tour de force of wickerwork. The American piece, produced
around 1900, when wicker furniture was seeing a surge in popu-
larity, features intricate decoration, from the delicate scrolls
running along the canopy to the panels on each end that seem
to suggest a peacock’s tail.
Rock and Roll Le Trianon, 1854 N. Main St., Sheffield, MA 01257

Brazilian designer José Zanine Cal- 413-528-0775; www.letrianon.1stdibs.com
das is perhaps best known for the
furniture he sculpted from salvaged
wood. In San Francisco, Hedge
(www.hedgegallery.com; 415-433-
2233) has a circa 1970 tête-à-tête
rocker of reclaimed pequi, $32,000.
Architectural Digest’s Editors Present Designers’ Sources
Schumacher
Good Day Sunshine is a
printed linen in the Schu-
macher (800-523-1200;
www.fschumacher.com)
photo credits tktktk.
Modern Collection; it
comes in black and white,
flamingo, spring and
china blue (shown).
Discoveries by Designers AD’s Editors Present Designers’ Sources
Scalamandré Found Marbles

In Brooklyn, New York, S. Scott
Powers Antiques (www.burlsnuff
.com; 718-625-1715) has a circa 1860
At Scalamandré (800-
932-4361; www.scala stoneware basket filled with 50
mandre.com), Raj Bo- 1.25-inch-diameter Bennington mar-
tanica is a floral union bles, $3,600 for the basket and
cloth, with background marbles; $3,100 for the basket only.
colors of ivory, soft
blue, Indian yellow and
Madras pink (shown).
ScalamandrÉ, S. Scott Powers Antiques, Mondo Cane and A bird in hand Antiques: Billy Cunningham
Quite a Pair
New York’s Tribeca neighborhood is home to Mondo Cane
and its well-edited array of mid-20th-century furniture and
accessories. Of particular note is a deceptively simple pair of
bentwood-and-bamboo cantilevered chairs, $18,500, attributed
to the legendary Charlotte Perriand.
Mondo Cane Inc., 174 Duane St., New York, NY 10013

212-219-9244; www.mondocane.com
Carpet of Flowers
The tree of life, a folk art motif that
recurs across cultures, appears on
a nearly three-by-five-foot 1930–40
American hooked rug, $1,675, from
A Bird in Hand Antiques (www.a
birdinhand.com; 973-410-0077) in
Florham Park, New Jersey.
Lee Jofa
Conjuring up old Eu-
Rider on the Wind ropean wall paint-
ings, Vintage Fresco is a
Obsolete (www.obsoleteinc.com; printed linen available
310-399-0024), of Venice, Califor- in champagne and pale
nia, has a delightful—and expres- aqua from Lee Jofa
sive—1920–30 American whirligig (800-453-3563; www
of a man riding a bicycle, $3,800. .leejofa.com).
When the wind hits him, his legs
move the pedals.
Abstract floral designs and a
obsolete: jim Mchugh; lee jofa: billy cunningham; 20th century objects: courtesy www.20thcenturyobjects.com; canup antiques: william noland
striking combination of colors
distinguish a Cliff vase.
Big Top Memories

Tella Kitchen, an artist often compared to Grandma Moses, was born
in Vinton, Ohio, and later moved to Attica, Indiana. Sometime in How Bizarre
the 1960s or ’70s she painted the oil Circus in Town, $8,200, based on Toronto’s 20th Century Objects
(www.20thcenturyobjects.com; 416-
her memories of one that came through Attica when she was a 617-9119) has a fine example of a
child. The work, at Canup Antiques, captures the excitement of 1930s Clarice Cliff Bizarre vase,
$2,800. The English potter’s output
the event in the figures’ animated gestures. was typified by imaginative interpre-
tations of the Art Déco aesthetic.
Canup Antiques, 828-743-9435; www.canupantiques.com
Let’s Bowl!
Bowling sets, such as one, $195, at Houston’s Helen Warren
Spector Antiques, were popular in the United States
from the early 20th century until the 1940s. The pins measure
just under six inches tall each and were likely used indoors.
Helen Warren Spector Antiques, 713-927-6444

www.helenspector.com
Helen warren Spector antiques: courtesy helen warren spector antiques

stauble & Chambers antiques: brian vanden brink
Right Direction
Dating from the early 1800s, a wa-
tercolor of a mariner’s compass,
$2,350, at the Wiscassett, Maine, gal-
lery Stauble & Chambers Antiques
(www.staublechambersantiques
.com; 207-882-6341), is notable for
its bold primary colors.
Design Notebook
A Winning Design for Oscar ®
Architectural Digest’s Green Room at the Academy Awards ®
By Firstname Lasttktkt
Left: Backstage at the

Kodak Theatre in Los
Angeles, Carleton Var-
ney, of Dorothy Draper
& Company, evoked
Old Hollywood glam-
our in the Architectural
Digest Green Room,
which he created for
the 80th annual Acad-
emy Awards. The ped-
estal table, foreground,
is an original Draper
design, as is the sconce;
the doors and chande-
lier are Draper replicas.
Below: A life-size Os-
car is at the entrance.
Nourison carpet.
Interior Design by Carleton Varney of Dorothy Draper & Company

Text by Kelly Vencill Sanchez/Photography by Mary E. Nichols
M
ost designers faced with the There was no question about the design
prospect of having just five concept. “We wanted to give it the early
weeks to complete a job that’s Hollywood look,” Varney notes, “when
key to one of the biggest events of the year movie stars were movie stars.”
could be forgiven if they opted to turn and The president and owner of Dorothy
run the other way. But Carleton Varney Draper & Company didn’t have to look far
Screen Images Courtesy Gloria Lamb; Oscar Image: © A.M.P.A.S.®
has never been like most designers. “It can for inspiration. His green room pays exu-
always be done,” he says simply. berant homage to four of Draper’s most
The indefatigable Varney was about notable projects—California’s Arrowhead
to board a plane when he got a call from Springs Hotel, the Quitandinha Palace
Architectural Digest editor-in-chief Paige & Casino Resort in Brazil, the Camellia
Rense asking if he would like to design House at Chicago’s Drake Hotel and New
the magazine’s green room for this year’s York’s Hampshire House.
Academy Awards. “Paige and I, we go back No one did glamour quite like Doro-
a while, and she’d seen the work I’d done thy Draper. The legendary decorator, who
for Joan Crawford and other stars,” he re- once pronounced, “the Drab Age is over,”
calls. “I told her yes, indeed, I would!” continued on page 92
Design Notebook
“This was a fantasy space,” notes Varney. Above: accommodate between 25 and 30 people. more complicated. The room was a foot
A seating area. The mirror and lamps are also Measuring approximately 40 by 20 feet, and a half over the fire exit doors and had
vintage Draper pieces. He adapted the dishes and
glassware from Draper designs. LG televisions, it was more or less the size of a New York to be tweaked to fit. In the end, the various
at Abt.com. White satin, red Ultrasuede, sofa City living room. departments worked feverishly to pull the
fringe, sofa and tufted chairs, Kravet. Low table But most living rooms have things like room together on time.
and rattan chairs from Ficks Reed. Above walls, a ceiling, electrical outlets. The green By all accounts, the green room was an
Right: The entrance. Table and benches, Kravet.
room had to be constructed in its entirety enormous success, and Varney is pleased
at the ABC television studios before it was that he can bring back glamour to interior
continued from page 90 dismantled and rebuilt at the Kodak. design. “We live in a beige-and-gray world.
was never one for the modest gesture. It took the set builders about four days We need a sparkle, a way to make people
Rococo-style moldings, black-and-white- to create the bones of the space, and then smile again. That’s what it’s all about.” l
marble floors and overscale floral prints in the carpentry, electrical, painting and
vivid hues—all were part of her stylishly drapery departments performed their du- Visit www.ArchitecturalDigest.com to see
dramatic vocabulary. ties. The move to the Kodak proved a bit more Oscar-related features.
The Architectural Digest Green Room,
which Varney likens to “a set from a 20th-
Century Fox musical,” is crisply theatrical
and marked by bold colors and patterns.
There are lacquered double doors and a
floor stenciled in a checkerboard design.
Mottled aubergine walls are offset by a
glossy white wainscoting and oversize
crown moldings. There’s a tufted-black-
leather bar and luxurious fabrics: white
satin, lipstick-red Ultrasuede and a bright
green banana-leaf damask. A Dorothy
Draper print adds a vibrant floral note.
Above: Varney. Left: The
While many of the furnishings are re- bar was inspired by a
productions, others are original Draper Draper design. Lamps,
pieces, such as the baroque sconce and the banquette, slipper chair
and leather on bar,
palm-tree lamps. Kravet. Carleton Varney
The room was to sit just offstage at Hol- by the Yard floral fabric;
lywood’s Kodak Theatre and needed to Carleton V green silk.
Design Notebook
Spreading Out in Santa Fe

The Sprawling Rancho Alegre Rekindles the Spirit of the American West in New Mexico
Architecture by Bill Tull/Text by Peter Haldeman/Photography by Robert Reck
H
e was raised in the relatively Above: The compound that architect Bill Tull designed for the late R. Mi-
civilized environs of Westhamp- chael Kammerer, Jr., in Santa Fe reflects the owner’s love of southwestern
art and architecture. Below: The sunroom, originally intended to be a pa-
ton Beach, on Long Island, em- tio, was enclosed with a bóveda ceiling and doubles as a gallery space. A
barked upon an auspicious career on feather motif by potter Maria Martinez inspired the granite floor detail.
Madison Avenue and, in 1983, launched
the Independent Television Network,
which would become the largest supplier
of non-network prime-time advertising
in the country. But R. Michael Kam-
merer, Jr., who died last year at the age of
67, was probably closer in spirit to John
Wayne than to Donald Trump. “He was
definitely more comfortable in jeans and
a cowboy hat than a business suit,” says
his son, Rudy Kammerer. “My dad fell in
love with the West through Hollywood
movies and reading western writers like
Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. He was
just fascinated with those tales of heroism
and adventure.”
For a while R. Michael Kammerer suc-
cessfully juggled his communications em-
Design Notebook
Left: Paintings by Roy Anderson and saddles by

Edward H. Bohlin are displayed in the saddle
room. Below: Native American weavings line
a wall of the second-floor stairwell. “Western
history—that’s the stuff my dad loved,” says
Kammerer’s son, Rudy. “He started with small
bronzes, but he became a more sophisticated
collector when he made the move to Santa Fe.”

pire and cowpoke enthusiasms. Around
The house is filled with superb paintings by Taos
the time he started ITN, he bought a School artists, Native American rugs and pottery, and
200-acre property in upstate New York,
where he built a log cabin and ran one of
western collectibles, from chaps to bridles to rifles.
the largest beef cattle operations in the
area. In 1991 he retired from managing
ITN, moved with his wife to Carefree,
Arizona, and indulged his inner Slim Pick-
ens by learning the art of competitive
team roping. Three years later—after di-
vorcing his first wife and meeting his
second—he purchased 175 acres of pas-
tureland between the Ortiz and Sangre de
Cristo mountain ranges in Santa Fe and
hired the Scottsdale, Arizona–based archi-
tect Bill Tull to build Rancho Alegre, his
western Shangri-la.
“They made an intense study of Santa
Fe architecture and who the best crafts-
people and practitioners were,” says Rudy
Kammerer. Siting the house against the
backdrop of the Ortiz Mountains, Tull de-
signed a sprawling pueblo-style compound
that, while grand in scale, speaks the local
vernacular. Its most prominent features are
a stone torréon, or tower, and a santuario, Above: In the dining room, a custom-made
chandelier hangs from wood beams that
or chapel, around which the architect built were smoked to give them a dark patina. The
a Mexican-style plaza. Tull was exacting lighted niche is a Tull signature. The bronz-
continued on page 100 es on the windowsill are by Dave McGary.
Design Notebook
Left: Cowboy chaps

dating to the early
1900s and flags deco-
rate the walls of the
office. The safe door,
covered in leather, was
hand-carved with a
Code of the West de-
sign. The bronzes are
by Herb Mignery.
continued from page 98 time Rancho Alegre was completed, he had that the former adman championed. One
when it came to building methods and ma- assembled museum-quality collections proceeds under the vaulted ceiling of the
terials, whether he was using three layers of western paintings, Native American entrance to the living room, an impres-
of adobe bricks in the walls or retaining art and artifacts, and pioneer memora- sive space with 20-foot ceilings and hand-
master stonemason John Morris to lay the bilia. Visitors to the house are greeted carved beams that Rudy Kammerer says
Arizona flagstone floors. outside by Mignery’s bronze sculpture of craftsmen spent half a year on their backs
R. Michael Kammerer had started col- two cowboys shaking hands, along with a completing. Off one end of the room, a
lecting small bronzes by western artist plaque titled Code of the West, describ- sunroom has travertine-and-black-granite
Herb Mignery back in Albany, and by the ing the commonsense frontier values continued on page 102
Above: Replicas of Plains Indian chiefs’ clothing are displayed in the confer-
ence room. Cathy A. Smith, who designed the costumes for Dances with
Wolves, “spent three years creating the collection,” says Kammerer. “Every
detail is authentic.” Left: Turquoise pieces in a stone jewelry case.

Design Notebook

floors featuring an American eagle-feath-
er motif. A cantina situated off the other
end of the room, “where things tended
to end up late at night,” was inspired by a
300-year-old Spanish cowboy bar.
But the “jewel of the house,” according
to Rudy Kammerer, is the master bath.
Here John Morris has fashioned a tribute
to Chaco Canyon—the Anasazi ruins in
New Mexico’s San Juan Basin. The bath’s
banded sandstone walls, viga-and-latilla
ceiling and petroglyph-like etchings all re-
call the astonishing skills of the Puebloans.
Of course, the Anasazi didn’t enjoy free-
standing pedestal showers or Roman tubs,
but then the Anasazi didn’t revolutionize
Siting the house against the backdrop of the Ortiz television advertising.
R. Michael Kammerer continued to
Mountains, Tull designed a pueblo-style compound that, develop his collections at Rancho Alegre.
while grand in scale, speaks the local vernacular. The house is filled with superb paintings
by Taos School artists, Native American
rugs and pottery, and western collect-
ibles, from chaps to bridles to rifles. The
saddle room exhibits the workmanship of
masters like Edward H. Bohlin (he made
Roy Rogers’s saddles), while the confer-
ence room showcases quotations from Na-
tive American chiefs and precise replicas
of their dress by Cathy A. Smith (she did
the costumes for Dances with Wolves).
“People will say things like, ‘This is
the second-best holster collection in the
country,’ and the holsters were a small
part of my dad’s collection,” says Rudy
Kammerer. “It was sort of the way it all
fit together that made the collection spe-
cial.” This spring Sotheby’s auctioned off
a good share of the paintings and Native
American crafts. And Rancho Alegre itself
will probably be sold. Whatever the fate of
the ranch, however, it’s a safe bet the Code
of the West will endure. l
Above: “It’s the kind of room that makes people’s
jaws drop,” Kammerer says of the master bath.
Stonemason John Morris modeled the space af-
ter the pueblos at Chaco Canyon. “The layering
of rocks and the vigas and latillas are what the
Anasazi used. An archaeologist took photos and
enlarged them so the design could be replicated.”
Top: The cantina was dubbed “La Tinaja de Mi-

guel, or Michael’s Watering Hole,” says Kammer-
er. Right: To further Rancho Alegre’s authentic
look, Tull anchored the compound with a stone
tower. Black-walnut doors mark the entrance.

Estates for Sale
Editors Select Properties Around the World
California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Florida…
south carolina
Hilton Head Gem with a Refined Yet Relaxed Ambience
A five-bedroom, 7.5-bath
Caribbean colonial–style
house in Sea Pines Resort was
heart-pine floors and 14-foot
ceilings. A gym and a wine cel-
lar are among its amenities.
designed by Michael Ruegamer, Two decks and a 500-square-
of Group 3. The oceanfront foot veranda look out on the
residence has geometrically pool and the Atlantic Ocean
patterned railings, custom ma- beyond. $8.25 million.
hogany doors and windows, Call 843-785-7215.
south carolina: brian vanden brink/courtesy the ocean broker; colorado: courtesy christie’s great estates
COLORADO A Historic Home in the Heart of Downtown Aspen
I n 1892 businessman John

Atkinson built what is now
known as the Sardy House.
Despite several renovations,
the six-bedroom Victorian, with
stained-glass windows, has
held on to its period charm.
The property, which includes
a neo–Queen Anne carriage
house with an eight-bedroom
wing and a one-bedroom suite,
operates as a bed-and-break-
fast. $21.5 million.
Call 970-925-8810.
Estates for Sale
Florida Barrier Island Opulence Among the Palm Trees
T he first impression one

gets of a nine-bedroom,
7.5-bath Georgian-inspired
residence on Jupiter Island is
a suitably grand one: The ap-
proach to the house is defined
by a plethora of palm trees,
which add to the regal but
welcoming feel of the structure
itself. It’s a building that could
have been here since the 1920s
but was in fact completed more
recently, in 2000, as evidenced
by the hurricane-resistant
windows, the open plan of the
kitchen/family room and the
inclusion of two state-of-the-art
amenities—a home theater
and a wine cellar. A sweeping
lawn leads from the triangular
pool down to the shore of the
barrier island. $16.95 million.
Call 561-818-6351.
MEXICO Ocean View on the Rocks in Cabo San Lucas
A recent reconfiguration of
the four-bedroom, six-
bath Casa Tortuga (AD, April
looks out to Cabo’s famous stone
arches), expansions of the hot
tub and pool, the reimagining
2006) by owner and interior of the third floor as a media
designer Alison Palevsky saw room and guest quarters, and a
many changes, among them the renovation of the upper terrace,
installation of floor-to-ceiling now a comfortable gathering
windows in the living and din- spot. $5.495 million.
ing areas (the oceanfront house Call 52-624-144-2848.
florida: courtesy corcoran group real estate; mexico: michael calderwood

Estates for Sale
Hawaii
Black-Sand Beach
House with
Elemental Focus
A 9,000-square-foot, six-
suite compound strikes
the right chord for its location
doorways and clerestory win-
dows. A pool and spa overlook
the ocean, as does one of two
along the Kohala Coast, on Ha- outdoor sleeping areas (the oth-
waii’s sleepier Big Island. The er is in a garden setting). The
1.19-acre property is a tranquil residence, which also has a gym
oasis of exotic plants, flowers and a sauna, as well as access
and trees, koi ponds and antique to the Mauna Lani Resort,
sculptures. Architectural fea- comes furnished. $24 million.
tures include carved Indonesian Call 808-987-4218.
andy carlson/courtesy macArthur & Company

Estates for Sale
California
Bay Area Panoramic Pleasure
V iews abound for a contem-

porary house on a quiet
cul-de-sac along a Sausalito
Bay, Tiburon, Belvedere, Mount
Tamalpais and Sausalito harbor.
(Even the laundry/storage
ridgeline five minutes from the room has a view.) The baths and
hiking and biking trails of kitchen feature Italian glass
Golden Gate National Recre- tiles, and the cherrywood floors
ation Area. The four-bedroom, throughout have radiant heat.
four-bath residence’s large Floating stairs and a barrel-
windows and open floor plan vaulted Douglas fir ceiling in
maximize vistas to the north, the family room and dining
east and south—of downtown area lend the spaces additional
San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, drama. $3.995 million.
Treasure Island, Richardson Call 415-464-3741.
courtesy christie’s great estates

Estates for Sale
MASSAchusetTs
On the Edge of a Peninsula
Northeast of Boston
A more than two-acre water-

front property in Nahant is
where the daughter of financier
F. Haven Clark, for whom the
residence was built in 1938,
married the youngest son of
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
fred christiansen/courtesy landVest (aerial), Greg Premru/courtesy landvest (interior)

The seven-bedroom, 8.5-bath
house, which has since been
converted into a Mediterranean-
style villa, features a wine cellar
and a mahogany-paneled media
room, not to mention sweeping
views that take in the Atlantic
Ocean, the Harbor Islands and
the Boston skyline. The grounds
include a one-bedroom apart-
ment, a pool and cabana, a vine-
yard, an orchard and a private
beach. $4.95 million.
Call 617-357-8996. l

Special Issue
American
Country Houses
“I learned about New Mexico when

I first started dating Jane Fonda,”
remarks Ted Turner (right), who
built a private desert lodge on Ar-
mendaris Ranch, his 350,000-acre
wild animal preserve along the
dramatic Fra Cristobal Mountains.
“I come out here in the winter.”
New Mexico
Ted Turner
On his armendaris ranch wild animal preserve, the media
magnate builds a lodge in tune with the land
Architecture by Chris Carson, faia/Interior Design by Laura Hunt/Text by Gerald Clarke/Photography by Robert Reck
“I wanted a hacienda-type house,”
says Turner. “I like Mexican archi-
tecture.” Above: He staked the site
of the entrance early on. Right:
The portale is open to a courtyard.
Mirror and Navajo rug, Christie’s.
Ralph Lauren Home pillow plaid.
O
h, give me a home where the
buffalo roam” is the open-
ing line of one of America’s
most famous folk songs. But
Ted Turner might be excused if he thinks
it was written especially for him. As the
largest individual landholder in the United
States—he has title to nearly two million
acres in 11 states—he has not one but many
homes where the buffalo roam. And he
lays claim to about 50,000 of those ma-
jestic, if sometimes ornery, critters—the
largest land animal, he proudly observes,
in all of North America.
Turner’s main residence is near Talla-
hassee, Florida (see Architectural Digest,
July 2004). On visits to his many west-
ern and midwestern ranches, he usually
stays in the house, however humble, that
was already there. “I just want someplace
where I can close the door to keep the flies
out,” he says.
When his friends visited his Armendaris
Ranch in New Mexico, for instance, they
stayed in what had been the cowboys’
bunkhouse: one room for everybody, a
bath with open showers and nothing for
entertainment but the sound of the wind,
which sometimes reaches 50 miles an hour
during the winter. “The girls had to wait
until the boys were done in the bathroom,”
he says of that spartan desert dormitory.
“It was rudimentary.”
It was too rudimentary, in fact, to be the
center of such a vast property—350,000
acres. In 2006 he decided it was time for a
proper house, beautiful yet simple, and in

“It’s a nice house, but it’s not fancy,” says Turner, who hired San Antonio architect Chris Car-
son and Dallas interior designer Laura Hunt to carry out the design. Left: For the great room, as
throughout, Hunt wanted “European overtones,” she says. Paintings by Albert Bierstadt flank
the fireplace, and a side table displays circa 1910–40 Navajo copper boxes. Vigas, typical of Spanish
colonial architecture, were stained dark brown. John Rosselli lamps. Above: “Ted said, ‘Lots of
windows,’ and he got them,” says Hunt, who hung prints by George Catlin in the dining area.
no sense wasteful. “I don’t believe in wast- was doing. “It was a brilliant choice,” Hunt
ing anything,” he says. “I’m fairly wealthy, now admits, “and I’ve had to eat my words.
but I even save paper clips.” A hacienda- When you’re in the house, you’re part
style house with four bedrooms is what of the desert—and you still have beauti-
he wanted, and when Laura Hunt, the ful landscapes.”
Dallas designer who was in charge of the On one thing everyone agreed: The
project, and Chris Carson, a San Antonio house should be a partner to its surround-
architect, inspected the site, they found ings. “I didn’t want people to drive up and
two stakes firmly embedded in the Ar- say, ‘Oh, wow! Look at that house!’ ” ex-
mendaris’s dusty soil. One was where Tur- plains Hunt. Everyone also agreed that it
ner wanted his front door; the other was be built in the Territorial style, the look
where he wanted his bedroom windows to and form 19th-century settlers in New
look out on the Fra Cristobal Mountains. Mexico found so appropriate to that arid
Hunt thought he should have chosen a and often inhospitable land. It was not for
site in the Fra Cristobals themselves, one nothing that the Spanish conquistadors
that would look down at the desert, rather gave the name the Jornada del Muerto—
than one on the desert that would look the Journey of the Dead Man—to a trail
up at the mountains. But Turner, the man that runs through the ranch.
who irrevocably altered television broad- The purpose of the house—it was to
casting with the introduction of CNN be a desert lodge—was foremost in the
and 24-hour cable news, knew what he designers’ minds. Carson placed the front
www.ArchitecturalDigest.com l 123

Above: Antique Native American door where Turner had planted his stake,
baskets decorate the walls of the in- but the door opens not to an entrance hall
formal dining room. Right: “The
kitchen was based on historic kitch- but to a walled courtyard. “The courtyard
ens of Spanish colonial homes in provides a sense of enclosure from the wild
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,” desert,” says Carson. The outdoors is as
explains Hunt. Wolf range and Sub-
Zero refrigerator, at Abt.com. Fau-
much a part of the house as the indoors,
cet from Kohler. and the three guest rooms are entered
from a wide, open-to-the-air corridor.
To reach the main part of the house from
their rooms, guests must thus walk briefly
through the open air.
The designers were also keenly aware
that their client was a passionate environ-
mentalist. Whatever they built had to meet
his stiff standards. What Hunt and Carson
discovered was that the old way of build-
ing, which was their intention all along,
is also best for the environment. Masonry
walls 18 inches thick keep out the cold in
the winter and the heat in the summer, and,
in New Mexico anyway, old-fashioned tile
and clay, made from the earth itself, are
ideal for both roofs and floors.
Both designers made several trips to the
historic Mexican town of San Miguel de
Allende, returning with 14,000 tiles for the
roof, red-painted tiles for the baths, stones
for the fireplaces and antique doors for
the courtyard entrance. “The more natural
materials are used,” says Carson, “the more
interesting they look.” Most people think
of mesquite, another natural material, as
a fuel for cooking. Hunt put it to a better
use as the floor of the great room, a long

“Ted doesn’t require luxurious accommodations,” says Hunt.
“He’s very cool that way. He just needs a pillow and a bed, and
he’s happy.” These Pages: The master bedroom. The paint-
ings over the walnut writing table and the console in the hall
are by Bierstadt; the print is by Catlin. Stark carpet. John Ros-
selli bench. Schumacher lamp.
“I’m trying to save
life on Earth. We have
an obligation and a
privilege to preserve our
planet and the species
we share the planet with.”
“Half my land holdings are in New

Mexico,” says Turner (left), who
founded the Turner Endangered
Species Fund in 1997. He developed
the property to raise buffalo (below
left) as well as to provide a sanctu-
ary for imperiled animals, such
as pronghorn antelope (below), big-
horn sheep and Bolson tortoises.
space that combines the living and din- Native American artifacts, for example, erties, to save and reintroduce endangered
ing areas. “Beyond beautiful,” is how she and bison hide for the master bedroom’s species. On the Armendaris these include
describes floor colors that vary from a rich headboard and bed skirt. “It’s like suede,” bighorn sheep, Aplomado falcons and Bol-
brown to a brown so dark that it could be she says, “but a little rougher.” son tortoises. The largest tortoise in North
mistaken for black. Turner and Hunt share a grandson— America, the Bolson—la tortuga grande del
“I envisioned the house blending into her daughter Gannon was married to his desierto, or the big turtle of the desert—has
the landscape,” says Hunt, “and I wanted it son Beau—and she was designing not just probably not been seen in those parts in
to be painted the color of the grass around for Turner but also for her grandson, Beau several thousand years. “I’m trying to save
it. I worked for I don’t know how many Jr., as well as future generations of Turners. life on Earth,” says Turner. “We have an
months to get that color for the stucco. “I built it for family,” she says, “so that my obligation and a privilege to preserve and
The inside is a shade lighter.” Though she grandson will say, ‘Grandma did this.’ ” maintain our planet and the species we
wanted the interior to suggest a European Turner is also thinking of future gen- share the planet with. If we destroy the
hunting lodge, Hunt was not shy about erations. Through his Turner Endangered environment, we’re committing suicide.”
using items from the American West— Species Fund he is trying, on all his prop- A hundred years ago the bison was also
in danger of extinction. Now Turner him-
self owns so many that some of his herds
stretch as far as the eye can see. For Hunt,
it seemed only right that the emblem of
his new house should be that shaggy beast
he is so devoted to, and she has put the bi-
son logo on just about everything but the
lightbulbs—from towels and T-shirts to
poker chips and M&Ms. Not only has Ted
Turner found a home, or homes, on the
range. So, on the Armendaris and on his
many other ranches, have the buffalo. l

“I’m not buying land now,” Turner says. “I’ve got enough,
though I may buy adjacent pieces of property for bison.” Op-
posite: The latilla-covered porch shades the great room. This
Image: People gather on the west patio to watch the sunsets.
Landscape architect Jennifer Bear used native plants, includ-
ing soaptree yucca, black grama grass and tobosa grass.
Architecture by Ike Kligerman Barkley
Interior Design by Renée O’Leary
Text by Joseph Giovannini
Photography by Durston Saylor
I
n some circles, having multiple per-
sonalities may be viewed as a psycho-
logical disorder, but in architecture,
it can be a good thing.
When the New York firm Ike Kliger-
man Barkley was commissioned to design
a house in the Virginia horse country, sev-
eral considerations pulled the architects
in complex and contradictory directions.
Thomas Jefferson, Monticello and the Pal-
ladian tradition of plantation houses still
weigh heavily on the collective architec-
tural psyche. Yet in the more specific con-
text of the Green Springs Historic District,
a protected agricultural landscape, most
buildings are modest farmhouses. While
the house had to hold its own on a 1,000-
acre site within the historic-land trust, it
couldn’t overwhelm empty nesters who
were retiring from New York to live in a
landscape they had no intention of domi-
nating. “We wanted something that would
fit in with the area,” says Renée O’Leary,
the client, a professional designer who did
the interiors. She and her husband had
worked previously with the architects on
their home in Connecticut (see Architec-
tural Digest, August 1999).
The land, then, with rolling hills, pas-
turage, native cedars and a 10-acre lake,
looked innocent—and large enough to
handle just about anything—but it was
actually a multivalent site charged with
conflicting expectations. Fitting it into
a context polarized between manor and
farmhouse meant multiplying its architec-
tural personality. The big house had to be
small, underbuilt for a very large piece of
land, and it had to be significant yet dis-
creet. “We wanted to do something appro-
priate, something that would sit lightly on
the land,” says Thomas Kligerman, one of
the firm’s three partners. The clients need-
ed a horse barn, one that could also shelter
the cats and dogs the couple foster.
“It was the first house of any size in that
Left and Right: Ike Kligerman Barkley em-

ployed Neoclassical and English precedents in
creating a Virginia residence for interior design-
er Renée O’Leary and her husband. Notes Joel
Barkley, “The white, almost Greek severity of
the architecture produces a miragelike effect in
the warm, earthy verdure.” Marvin windows.
Chadsworth’s columns. Weatherend benches.
Virginia
Invoking an Ideal
Romanticized forms pay homage to southern architectural
traditions in a historic landscape
“I wanted to build on the classical ideal of taking
refuge in the landscape. Southern architecture is like a
white mirage in a green world,” says Barkley.
area since the 1880s, so we felt a lot of would contrast with the brutal reality of other side of the portico, there’s a slightly
pressure to build something worthy of the the great heat here and the hard clay soil. grander wing with tall, aristocratic, tri-
setting,” says partner-in-charge Joel Bark- I think southern architecture can be so ple-hung windows, which in turn abuts a
ley, who was born and raised in the South powerful because it’s like a white mirage two-story clapboard building that reads
and who seemed to breathe a southern in a green world.” as a farmhouse. The rear side opens to a
accent into the project. Complicating— The architects were essentially min- second-story porch over a gallery paved
and enriching—the task was the ruin of ing the spirit of the place to shape the in brick. An arched porte cochere springs
Hawkwood, a pre–Civil War Tuscan-style design, but sensing the subtleties of the to a pure, pointedly simple two-story,
house designed by the eminent New York land, weather and near and distant history Greek Revival–style structure that recalls
architect Alexander Jackson Davis. “It’s meant that no single form could embody small country churches.
just across the road, so there’s a direct vi- all considerations. Barkley chose several The house may be large at 6,500 square
sual connection,” Barkley adds. “Since it’s a forms rather than one, creating an episodic feet, but it is modestly rather than proudly
ruin, there’s a kind of romantic sense here, structure with a narrative instead of cast- large, and it appears even smaller because
a nostalgia, that I wanted to pursue.” ing the building as a single image built the architects have broken the whole
Barkley brought other extrinsic con- at a single point in time. The centerpiece into a rambling, charming concatenation
cerns to weigh on the character of the of the house is a stuccoed, templelike en- of sections expressing different histori-
design: “Escaping to the country from trance pavilion with an august portico of cal periods and social conditions. Barkley
city living makes me think of Virgil and four columns. The roof slopes down to purposely made the house unsymmetri-
his Bucolica,” he says. “I wanted to build on a clapboard appendage, which looks as cal, but he explains that it is composed
the classical ideal of taking refuge in the though it was added by subsequent own- of “locally symmetrical objects that form
pastoral landscape, a civilized retreat that ers in more humble circumstances. On the a kind of jumble outside any normal hi-
Opposite: Inspired by architect Harrie T. Lindeberg, John Ike turned the

house’s Greek pediment on its side to create the silhouette for the 28-
stall barn. Above: O’Leary chose a bold hue to offset the trim in the vaulted
living room. A Nobilis fabric covers the love seat. The chairs near the fire-
place are done in a Bergamo fabric. Odegard orange rug. Holly Hunt lamp.

Above: Just over the porte cochere is a book-lined, shiplike space outfitted
with two bunks. The dogs are among those the couple foster for a shelter.
Right: Barkley calls the library a “perfect idealized cube. The moldings are
lyrical and as fancy as we get.” An oil by Susan Sales hangs above the fire-
place. At left is a work by Suki Bergeron. Sofa from Donghia. Stark carpet.

The house may be large at 6,500 square feet, but it
is modestly large. The architects have broken the whole
into a charming concatenation of sections.
Above: The vaulted master bedroom is lit by windows on three sides. The pastel is by Ted Larsen. Cow-
tan & Tout drapery fabric; Ralph Lauren Home hardware. Grass-cloth wallcovering from Decorators
Walk. Below: Porches along the pasture side of the house allow for dining and relaxing. Right: The
1,000-acre farm includes a lake and an old wheat barn. The property is in a protected historic district.
“When I’m away, I can’t wait to get back to Virginia,” says Renée O’Leary. “It’s a wonderful area.”
erarchy.” Each segment is only one room The stable adds another chapter to the
deep, without corridors. “I maximized the narrative on the property. The geometri-
outside surface area to get lots of win- cally abstract, acutely triangular structure
dows, breezes, views and sunlight,” he says, houses the tack and feed rooms and 28
noting, “It’s not the cheapest way of build- stalls for Renee O’Leary’s horses, as well as
ing a house.” a spiral staircase that leads up to an apart-
To add more diversity to the diversity, ment for the groom, in the gable, where
partner John Ike designed the nearby barn there’s a steep, 60-degree pitch. The ar-
as a steeplelike building, inspired by en- chitect ties the barn visually to the main
tirely different sources. “We heisted the house via the standing-seam Galvalume
idea from an early-20th-century architect roof and the spanking-white paint.
named Harrie T. Lindeberg, who himself Despite the ramble of exterior shapes
probably took it from English structures,” in the main house, its interior flows
explains Ike. “We wanted to create a sim- with ease and logic. A tall, impressive
ple, iconic form.” continued on page 205

Montana
Deer Cabin Reverie

on the wooded shore of flathead lake, a one-room
hideaway celebrates authentic camp living
Interior Design by Mimi London/Text by Peter Haldeman/Photography by David O. Marlow
A
ccording to the Small House Above: On Flathead Lake in Mon-
Society, an Iowa-based or- tana, Mimi London transformed a
“funny little shack” from the 1930s
ganization dedicated to the into a rustic refuge for Connie and
promotion of humbler hous- Martin Stone. “I did it in about two
ing alternatives, “living small can free up weeks—it was as if I were possessed,”
says the designer, whose own line
your mind, your wallet, and your soul.” shack across the lake was inspiration.
Consider, if you will, Deer Cabin, a one-
room, 300-square-foot log cabin that, its Left: Firewood is stacked in the
owners, creators and loyal visitors swear, screen porch of Deer Cabin, which
is the last word in soulful comfort. serves as an “on-site pied-à-terre”
while the couple’s main house on
The Stone family knows from comfort. the property is being built. Oppo-
For years Martin Stone—who developed site: London removed plastic fin-
the manufacturing conglomerate Mono- ishes from the floors and painted
gram Industries in the 1960s and once “everything that needed it,” she says.
owned the Phoenix Firebirds—his wife,
Connie, and their five now-grown chil-
dren split their time between a modern
adobe-and-glass house in Tucson, Arizona,
designed by the Austin, Texas, architect
Arthur Andersson, and a 200-plus-acre
ranch in Lake Placid, New York. But they
eventually tired of the high maintenance
that the ranch demanded and began to
investigate alternative summer getaways.
“We traveled for four or five years,” re-

Left: The foreman built simple
shelves for the indoor serving
area, which is used during winter.
“They’re designed to allow your
shoulders to drop, your neck to re-
lax,” explains London. “This is a
place where chores are slow, quiet
and therapeutic.”
“Everything in this cabin must

function—there are no extras—
and everything is used frequently.”
Above: An armoire holds dishes,
linens and candles. “There’s mini-
mal electric light,” London notes.
Opposite: A daybed is covered in
old Swiss Army blankets.
ports Connie Stone. “We went up and house directly across the lake from the kind of hovering over it. Her horses are
down the East Coast, to Hawaii, around couple’s property (see Architectural Digest, walking around trying to take food from
the Pacific Northwest, all over Califor- June 1987), has spent her summers in the her. I kind of expected a unicorn to come
nia, Aspen, Santa Fe—everywhere—and area since she was a girl and manufactures walking through.”
we just couldn’t find any place where we a line of eco-friendly furniture there. The It was, according to perhaps the most
felt at home.” Finally, at the suggestion of three met at a party one evening, and outdoorsy interior designer in America, “a
their friends Meredith and Tom Brokaw, London was impressed enough with the beginning point for what we were going to
who have a ranch in Montana, they looked Stones’ idea of building an unassuming do, for the attitude.” More introductions
into the area around Flathead Lake. The Adirondack-style compound on their land were made—London to Andersson, An-
couple checked into a dude ranch near the that she issued a rare invitation to visit dersson to the line shack, London to the
lake—and the very next day purchased a her line shack—a very humble mountain Stones’ fishing shack. The conversation
15-acre site supporting a lot of pine trees abode that once served cowboys riding the turned to how they could make the cabin
and one 1930s-era fishing shack. fence line (see Architectural Digest, June function as a venue for project meetings,
If it was an impulse buy, their deci- 1992). For Connie Stone, the line shack entertaining and sleepovers while build-
sion was ratified by two neighbors in the was something of a revelation. “We sat on ings Andersson designed for the property
know. One was Arthur Andersson, who, her rickety, falling-down porch and put were under construction. “Mimi made a
the Stones discovered, had been vacation- our feet up,” she sighs. “Mimi pulls out little drawing and said, ‘How does that
ing on the lake for years. The other was some ripe Brie from an old cooler and look?’ ” recalls Connie Stone. “Two and a
the designer Mimi London, who owns a grabs some basil out of a tub with birds half weeks later the cabin was done.”

“Even people you wouldn’t
think would respond to it want
to be there washing the
dishes and heating the water.”
Opposite: “I modified the concept of a wilderness camp cook tent with

mouseproof containers, a propane stove and kerosene lanterns,” says
London (left). “There are no walls, and the view is beautiful. Connie and
I have done the dishes more than once in the snow.” Below: The fire pit
is the site of “cocktails or after-dinner coffee.” Following Pages: Logs
replace the original railings in the “dining room.” Janus et Cie lanterns.
Among other things, London replaced Navajo rugs serves as the bedroom; a table mer house on Lake Placid and rounded
the old structure’s porch railings, gave it and captain’s chairs out on the porch act these out with eBay purchases and local
a fresh coat of paint, stripped the plastic as the dining room; a weathered armoire finds—“dumpy” calico curtains, 1920s
surfaces and added shelving inside and from Nova Scotia provides storage. “Did light fixtures, period hickory chairs and
built a “cook tent,” made of log posts and you see the powder room?” London asks, Amish rockers.
Plexiglas, off one end of the cabin. Not referring to a mirror hung on a pine tree “Mimi’s talent is that she creates an
a square inch was wasted: A mini-refrig- above a wire trashcan holding a water intimate and nurturing environment just
erator and shelves put up by the Stones’ pitcher and bowl. “Nice, doncha think?” instinctively,” says Connie Stone. “When
foreman make up the kitchen area; a bed To furnish the place, the designer relied I walked into that space, it felt like some-
covered in old Swiss Army blankets and on rustic pieces from the Stones’ for- continued on page 205

The legend of
Jesse James
continues to
capture the
nation’s popular
imagination.
Outlaw Ephemera
On March 2, 1882, just a month before he
was shot and killed by a member of his
own gang, Jesse James, using the alias Tho.
Howard, responded to a newspaper ad
placed by J. D. Calhoun for a 160-acre plot
of land in Franklin County, Nebraska. The
two-page letter and the ad, along with a
pamphlet and a dime novel, both also
from 1882, detailing the notorious outlaw’s
exploits, are available for $350,000 at
The Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery.
The Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery Inc., 46 Eliot St.

South Natick, MA 01760; 508-647-1776
www.kwrendell.com
Little Tent
Made for a child, a circa 1890 Plains
tepee, $10,500, at Denver’s David
Cook Fine American Art (www.da
vidcookfineamericanart.com; 303-
623-8181), is just over a foot tall. Un-
like similar pieces of the era, it has
quill, rather than bead, decoration.

AD’s Editors Present Designers’ Sources
Arrowing In
Geometric designs in strong colors
define a parfleche, $4,500, at Morn-
ing Star Gallery (www.morning
stargallery.com; 505-982-8187) in
Santa Fe. The envelope was fash-
ioned by a member of one of the Pla-
teau tribes around 1900.
morning star gallery: courtesy morning star gallery; rjg antiques: courtesy rjg antiques; Vallejo Gallery: Jim McHugh
The kenneth w. rendell gallery: richard mandelkorn; david cook fine american art: courtesy david cook galleries
Fun and Games

From RJG Antiques (www.rjgan
tiques.com; 603-433-1770), Russ and
Karen Goldberger’s Rye, New
Hampshire, gallery, is a circa 1880
American game board, $2,500.
On one side is a Parcheesi board; on
the other is a checkerboard.
Sail Away
A full dockyard builder’s model from
circa 1894 of the Union Castle liner
RMS Carisbrook Castle, $120,000,
is at Vallejo Gallery (www.vallejogal
lery.com; 949-642-7945) in New-
port Beach, California. The model
measures over five feet in length.

Renovation Architecture
by Joseph W. Dick, aia
Text by Jean Strouse
Photography by
Richard Mandelkorn
L
ong before Roseline
Glazer bought a small
house overlooking
the sea on Martha’s
Vineyard, she fell in love with
a painting by Claude Monet
of a small house overlooking
the sea on the northwest coast
of France, Fisherman’s Cottage
on the Cliffs at Varengeville.
She acquired a print of the
picture—the original belongs
to the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston—and had it framed for
her husband, Bill, who hung it
on a wall in his office.
Fast-forward to 1988. The
Glazers are living in New
Haven, Connecticut, where
he works as a psychiatrist, she
in real estate, and they spend
every August at a cottage they
own on the Vineyard. They
are content there, but one
day a friend takes them to see
property on a hilltop near the
shore. They drive through
thick woods, park in the brush
and walk along a path till they
come to a cottage surrounded
by trees, facing a fishing village
and Vineyard Sound. Roseline
Glazer recalls, “The place was
in shambles. Large pines ob-
structed the views; the cedar
shingles had curled with age.
Still, I saw the bones of a small,
delicate house that was falling-
apart perfect. It just grabbed
me.” It turned out, however,
not to be for sale.
A year later the property
was on the market—cottage
“We knew we would have lots of

work to do, but we didn’t care,
because we fell in love with its shape,
the land, the view,” Roseline Glazer
says of the shingled cottage on
Martha’s Vineyard, built by Roger Al-
len in 1930, that she shares with
her husband, Bill. Architect Joseph
W. Dick helped renovate the struc-
ture, one of several on the property.
150
Massachusetts
Seaside Sanctuary
a cluster of cottages On martha’s vineyard
defines simplicity and charm
and outbuildings, on 3.3 acres
bounded by 24 acres of con-
servation land sloping down
to the fishing village and a
beach—and Roseline Glazer
had a real estate license in
Massachusetts. She showed
the place to friends, hoping
no one would buy it. No one
did. Then, in 1990, she and
her husband took the plunge.
“There was not one thing on
the property that didn’t need
care,” she says. “Anyone else
would have torn the house
down. But I loved it.”
The renovation took 10
years—during which time the
Glazers became grandparents
and moved from Connecticut
to downtown Manhattan to
Key West—and it is still a work
in progress. With a local con-
tractor, the new owners tore
down trees to open up views
and create space for gardens.
(“I apologized to the trees,”
says Roseline Glazer, a pas-
sionate, gifted gardener. “We
really had no choice.”) They
built a garden shed and refur-
bished the one-bedroom guest
cottage—laying wide-plank fir
over a concrete floor, install-
ing bead-board on the interior
walls and new cedar shingles
outside, replacing windows and
adding new kitchen appliances,
insulation and heating. Glazer
furnished each space with an- Opposite: A brick courtyard wraps
around the entrance to the kitch-
tiques—in the fully renovated en, at the rear of the house. Glazer
bunkhouse, a croquet set from (left) searched for 15 years before
the Antique Garden Furniture she found the railings. “The choke-
cherry tree over the cottage is
Show at the New York Botani- nature’s umbrella,” she remarks.
cal Garden, a lamp from the
market in Brimfield, Mas- Above: A corner of the living room.
sachusetts, and a dresser and Vintage fabrics cover the pillows.
wicker chair (both had to be “There’s little art on the walls. We
mostly enjoy looking out the win-
stripped) that she found on dows,” says Glazer, who kept the
the Vineyard. window treatments to a minimum.
Bill Glazer, who now runs Marvin windows throughout.
a medical consulting business,
left most of the project to his
wife. “I trusted Roz,” he says.
“My instinct was that her in-
stincts were right.” They built
an office for him on the hill-
side above the main house,
with a small gym downstairs,
a deck, its own gardens and
wide views of the sound. “I

needed a separate space for euphorbia, dahlias, asters, hy-
work, but the grandchildren drangeas, hostas, astilbe, Rus-
have figured out how to find sian sage, lavender, phlox and
me,” he says without a trace a raspberry patch.
of regret. Parking behind the office,
Nature, in Roseline Gla- a visitor crosses a lawn to a
zer’s hands, is a key element of stone path and steps that lead
design. She created gardens for to the kitchen at the rear of
every building: gardens banked the main cottage—the door
above walls, gardens lining everyone uses. The Cape Cod–
stone steps, spreading out un- style house, built in the 1930s
der trees, spilling from pots by Roger Allen, has gone from
on a brick terrace. Clumps of “falling-apart perfect” to sim-
daffodils wake the property ply perfect. And thanks to the
up in the spring; lilies of the combined efforts of Roseline
valley follow, thriving in the Glazer and Joseph W. Dick,
shade, then peonies, irises and it feels larger than its 1,450
columbine. Clematis climbs square feet. Owner and archi-
cedar-shingle walls. Down the tect opened it up to the light
hill toward the beach, a fence and its glorious setting, rais-
keeps deer out of the veg- ing the ceiling, widening and
etable garden. Full summer deepening porches that face
brings a perennial abundance north and west. “We don’t have
that includes roses, helenium, much art,” Glazer says. “The
Above: The addition of a dining room to the main house “took place years
after we thought we were finished renovating,” she explains. “It’s small,
in keeping with the proportions of all the cottages.” Bead-board lends a
textural quality to the walls and ceiling. Bentwood chairs surround the
farm table. Opposite: The kitchen. Kohler sink. Right: In the attic, two
small bedrooms were combined to create a larger master bedroom.

“I saw the bones of a
small, delicate
house that was falling-
apart perfect.
It just grabbed me.”
landscape and sea are all the art Oregon, bentwood chairs and calm weather, the sound of a
we need.” an old Hoosier cabinet. bell buoy announces the chang-
Still, she collects vintage Upstairs, a former attic with ing of the tide.
fabrics, buttonhooks, hatboxes, two small bedrooms and no Roseline Glazer had for-
antique lace and linens, pin- views is now a loftlike master gotten all about the Monet
cushions, pottery and porce- bedroom, with a full bath and painting when she fell for a
lain—all of which are on dis- a shed dormer that has five ramshackle cottage by the sea
play in the house. A few years windows facing the sea. The in 1988. She remembered the
ago she added a dining room Glazers kept the house’s origi- image only after she and her
adjacent to the kitchen—a nal wide-plank floorboards, husband had bought the prop-
clean-lined, shed-roof struc- even in the baths and kitchen. erty they now live on half the
ture that looks as if it has been They use no shades on the win- year and consider their true
there forever, with 11 windows, dows, preferring to see the home. “I think we don’t nec-
a bead-board ceiling and walls, steady flash of a lighthouse essarily find houses,” she says.
a round oak table she found in beam on nights with no fog. In “They find us.” l
Left: Glazer relocated a parking area to provide a gar- Above: The bunkhouse, left, and the guesthouse “are
den spot. The couple’s dog, Murray, is on the office’s exactly where we found them,” says Glazer. They installed
terrace. An avid gardener, Glazer massed plantings, in- new windows, white-cedar shingle siding and shingle
cluding hydrangeas and salvia, around the perimeter. roofs. A potting shed is now between the two structures.
“From the chairs, there’s a 180-degree view,” she notes. Top: Ocean breezes billow curtains in the bunkhouse.

Connecticut
Inner Directed
modern pieces bring a Former barn into the 21st century
Interior Design by S. Russell Groves/Text by Michael Frank/Photography by Scott Frances
“They are modernists who have ended up living in old struc-
tures,” designer Russell Groves says of longtime clients—a
hedge-fund manager and his wife, parents of three-year-old
twin daughters—who asked him to reimagine the interiors of
a 19th-century barn that had been moved from Canada to Con-
necticut and subsequently converted into a 15-room house.
“We chose modern pieces that had a sense of warmth, a tac-
tile quality,” says Groves, whose challenge was “to find a way
to bring a breath of modernism” to the rustic spaces. Idelle
Weber’s Across the Meadow, left, and Jardin de Paris, an 1897
poster by Jules Chéret, hang in the living room. Sofa fabric,
Robert Allen. Stool fabric from Dedar.
It fell to Groves
to “get all the pieces to
cohere,” as the
husband puts it, and
“make the place feel
fresh, young and alive.”
I
Above: The kitchen’s modern ap- n designing the inte- collecting and know how to level of formality of a house,
pliances contrast with the barn’s riors of a Connecticut “read” an old house as a genu- and then, if you’re lucky, you’ll
original wood beams, posts and
flooring. “What we did here, basi- house for a family with ine antique or a hybrid that be free to design.”
cally, was revise what we found,” whom he had collabo- has been tinkered with over Now hear it from the client’s
says Groves (top). “We used zinc rated on two earlier projects, the decades. The key question side: “Russell worked on our
and marble countertops. They’re
materials that get better with time.”
Russell Groves once again is, How does all this mold the Brooklyn Heights town house
found himself in the position way a design project unfolds? and my Manhattan offices. He
of working with an unusually “It’s surprising,” says Groves. knows my wife and me pretty
discerning and knowledge- “Sometimes the more educat- well by now, but I remember
able client. There cannot be ed client will give you the most when we first sat down, with
too many hedge-fund manag- leeway. In the beginning you our clippings and notes. He
ers out there who majored in talk about the central ideas. sifted through them and said,
art history at Harvard, won a You agree on the use, sensi- ‘Some of these translate into
prize as an undergraduate for bility, general ambience and practical solutions; some are

inspirational.’ He has a way to infuse the intricate pe- intended to be a markedly, but “There was a lot of texture already
of getting to the essence of a riod interiors with a sense of not entirely, different experi- present here,” the designer says of
the dining room. “So we chose a
project. By now we’ve learned refined modernity that still ence. Where the city house very simple table and chairs—wood
that the best way for him to maintained a connection to was stately, urbane and in- themselves, in order to relate to the
work, and for us, too, is simply the architecture. Modern sofas ward-turning, the place in the surroundings—and a customized
chandelier.” The flagstone fireplace
to lay out all the goals—then and antique chairs coexist with country was open, relaxed and dominates the space.
cut him loose.” sleek contemporary lighting bathed in abundant light. This
The goals for the clients’ and a lively collection of ab- is a house for bare feet, long
Washington Depot house were stract or Conceptual art made summer dinners, unbridled
very different from those in in the 1960s and 1970s and children’s play. Yet it is also a
town. In Brooklyn, the couple work by younger contempo- place of work—the husband
and their three-year-old twin rary artists. maintains a home office here—
daughters live in an 1830 town From the beginning, the and, like the city house, it is an
house. Groves’s task there was house in rural Connecticut was environment that deliberately

forsakes the rote for the rule- Groves to “get all the pieces to the great room, he installed is a welcome distinction from
bending and the vibrant. cohere,” as the husband puts it, new audiovisual and com- more compact city living.”
The structure itself, a Ca- and “make the place feel fresh, munications systems. There When it came to detailing
nadian barn that was rescued young and alive.” was some clever childproof- the interiors, Groves sought,
and rebuilt in Connecticut, has As with the city house, the ing, such as the introduction as in the city, to design by
elements that go back to the goal was to bring a modern of acrylic panels to a dramatic setting down different layers
1850s. In its residential incar- sensibility to a period build- open staircase and the wrapping of time. The barn’s frame cast
nation, as a spec house, it was ing. In this case, however, the of thick rope around splintery an anchor into the 19th centu-
moved to its present site and approach was to be more rus- columns. But Groves speaks ry; the couple’s artwork pushed
finished with fairly standard- tic and informal. Groves be- frankly about the intrinsic ap- the chronology forward into
issue fittings and materials. gan with what he calls “some peal of the house as he found the 20th and 21st. Groves’s
The previous owner added widespread tweaking.” In the it: “There are these wonderful job was to bridge the distance.
a handsome poolhouse and kitchen, he changed the count- beams, mellow floors, dramatic He did this, as he likes to, by
made several improvements to ertops, the lighting and the flagstones. The light is spectac- combining the right kinds of
the main building, but it fell to position of the appliances. In ular. And the big open room furniture from different mod-
“In town, we live in a house in Brooklyn Heights,” says the husband. “In the Opposite: The custom walnut four-poster in the master bedroom was de-
country, we wanted a more open plan, with lots of light and a relaxed atmo- signed by Groves. A Bakelite-and-chrome side table is flanked by a pair of
sphere. Russell understood how we wanted to use and live in the house bet- rocking chairs, which he produced in collaboration with Connecticut-based
ter than we did ourselves.” Above: A Noguchi floor lamp and side table are furniture maker Ian Ingersoll. Groves’s plan was “to make the house com-
next to a pair of woven-leather chairs in a seating area in the guesthouse. fortable for the family and also take the design up in quality several notches.”

ern moments. In the central
The structure itself, a Canadian room, matched pairs of Arts
and Crafts armchairs, Paul
barn that was rebuilt McCobb stools and whimsical
contemporary children’s rock-
in Connecticut, has elements ers are grouped around a low
table, while on the other side
that go back to the 1850s. of a row of rustic pillars, an
Edward Wormley daybed and
chairs are drawn up to a sub-
stantial flagstone fireplace.
“What you find here is
a formal arrangement, yes,
but it’s made up of more ca-
sual pieces,” says the designer,
“with fabrics that are durable
and child-friendly and a pal-
ette that is light enough to
brighten the rough timbers
and the wood floor.” Punches
of color come from pillows and
the artwork, which, in addition
to the contemporary pictures
acquired by the husband, in-
cludes a generous selection of
vintage movie posters from a
large collection assembled by
the wife’s father.
Groves’s combining in-
stincts extend to the library
nook, where Harvey Probber
games chairs are matched to a
Dunbar games table; the mas-
ter bedroom, with its sleek
Groves-designed walnut bed
and night tables and Shaker
rocking chairs; and the pool-
house, where a Noguchi floor
lamp shares the space with a
glass lamp from Pottery Barn.
What does it take to know
how to bring together objects
from such disparate sources,
new and old, high and low,
simple and more polished?
“Our work is all about mixing
elements together to create a
warm sense of modernism,”
Groves said. “When the period
is hard to pinpoint, the house
seems to have more life. Ideally,
it will be timeless, too.” l
Groves also laid out the landscap-

ing around the pool. The architec-
ture of the barn “relates to the
landscape and the surrounding
structures,” says the husband, but
the interiors “make it a modern
house with the charm, feeling and
materials of something that’s older.”
167
Birds of a Feather
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, artist James Christian Seagraves was
known for his interpretations of Pennsylvania German symbols.
Stark Fabric: courtesy stark fabric; The Splendid PEasant: courtesy the splendid peasant ltd.; adrian morris antiques: courtesy adrian morris antiques
Fryling’s Antiques has a selection of his work, including a redware
bird, left, available for $400, signed “JCS” and made between 1985
and 1990. It also bears the initials “VAS,” for his wife, Verna. It is
unusual to have both sets of initials on Seagraves’s pieces. Another
piece—a bird whistle, $400—is signed “JCS” and is from 1980–85.
Fryling’s Antiques, 1717 Becker Rd.

Green Lane, PA 18054; 215-234-0596
www.frylingsantiques.com
Fryling’s Antiques: alec marshall; american garage: courtesy american garage

Dime Store Detail
At Los Angeles’s American Garage
(www.americangarageantiques
.com; 323-658-8100) is a nearly five-
by-four-foot late-19th-century sign
advertising “Ed Farr’s 5 and 10 Cent
Store.” Thought to be from the Bos-
ton area, it has its original paint.

Stark Fabric
Old World Weavers,
from Stark (877-746-
7699), has new indoor-
outdoor fabrics in its
Elements III Collec-
tion. They are, from
top to bottom, Shore-
line, Catamaran, Mari-
na and Veracruz.
Panel Discussion
Mid-20th-century painted wood
She used tabletops and doors, panels, $2,900 each, are by an artist
known only as Lucy from Sikeston,
or any other flat surfaces, Missouri. They’re now for sale at

The Splendid Peasant (www.splen
didpeasant.com; 401-396-9255) in
as canvases for her paintings. Bristol, Rhode Island.
Take a Village
Consisting of 17 buildings, a card-
board village, $475, was a Victorian
toy. Available at Adrian Morris An-
tiques (www.adrianmorrisantiques
.com; 716-655-3374) in East Aurora,
New York, it has its original map
marking the structures’ locations.

New Jersey
Capturing Traditions
georgian details and a collection of
americana lend a period feel to a new residence
Architecture by Patrick J. Burke/Interior Design by David Guilmet of Bell-Guilmet Associates
Text by Penelope Rowlands/Photography by Durston Saylor
For a couple with a wide-ranging collec-
tion of American antiques and folk art,
architect Patrick J. Burke and interior
designer David Guilmet created an 18th-
century-style house on farmland in New
Jersey. The fieldstone barn, which serves as
the guesthouse, “is supposed to look like
an addition to a period house,” says Guil-
met, who contributed to the architecture.
“I really love molding and paneling.
I’m crazy about depth; it’s the layers upon
layers that make things interesting.”
O
ne of his first gifts its name, Weathervane Farm, Favoring Americana in their new residence, also “wanted it
to the woman he refers to a beloved collection. collecting lives, the couple to look period,” says the wife.
would later marry But it doesn’t stop there: Its wanted a residence to match. They took steps to tie the
—she was 16 or 17 residents also collect early “They asked for classic early buildings together “to make it
at the time—was a Saratoga American furniture, hooked American,” Burke says. He a working whole,” Burke says,
trunk, “metal, with a dome rugs and folk art. responded with an expansive, by, for example, echoing the
top,” she recalls. Their ro- The pair had lived in this 18th-century-style clapboard stone of the barn’s faÇade in a
mance evolved along with their corner of northern New Jer- house and a fieldstone, gam- gable end of the residence.
growing collection of antique sey for decades and had raised brel-roofed guest barn, which, Entering the house is like
objects and furnishings. “We their children there. When placed just to the front of the stepping into a pool of light:
love attending antiques shows,” they wanted a new space in house, “gave it a true farm feel- A Palladian window on the
she says. “For the two of us it’s which to live and collect, they ing,” Burke notes. second floor—copied from a
a hobby.” turned to a local architect, Together, the two buildings house in Morristown, New Jer-
How better to memorialize a Patrick J. Burke, and interior resemble a compound that was sey, where George Washington
long and successful union than designer David Guilmet, of the built up over time. The illusion was headquartered during the
through a house that showcas- Solebury, Pennsylvania, firm of age was important to the Revolutionary War—sends
es this shared passion? Even Bell-Guilmet Associates. clients, who, while desiring a the sunlight down to the first
Opposite: A gallery off the entrance hall displays a circa 1840 theorem painting and a
circa 1835 portrait. Above: In the living room, as throughout, “paneled walls add period
detail,” says Guilmet. He did extensive research into 18th-century American interiors
to ensure architectural authenticity. The New Hampshire highboy is 18th century. The
painting of the O. M. Pettit is by James Bard. Schumacher sofa and drapery damask, with
Scalamandré trim. Brunschwig & Fils wing chair and sofa fabrics. Lee Jofa pillow crewel.

floor. The entrance hall was sophisticated feel.” The quest
conceived with a gallery open- extended to the nails. “Peo-
ing on either side. “You walk in ple often use rosehead nails
and see arches,” says the wife, to get an old-looking floor,”
who had done years of research says Guilmet’s partner, Patrick
into period architecture before Bell, “but these floors were laid
embarking on the project. “I with cut nails that are flush with
really love molding and panel- the wood. They’re not as dra-
ing,” she says. “I’m crazy about matic visually, but they’re more
depth; it’s the layers upon lay- appropriate historically.”
ers that make things interest- In the spacious, light-filled
ing.” To the right, a gracious living room, a Serapi carpet,
staircase, shallow-stepped and from the couple’s impressive
gracefully wide, seems to float rug collection, literally sets the
up to the second floor. tone; the muted crimson of its
Guilmet, who designed the background—what the wife
interior architecture as well as calls “a very Colonial red”—is
several exterior details, also picked up in upholstery fabrics
pored over historical plans, then and draperies. Here Guilmet
replicated his findings in such opted for simplicity. “I wanted
elements as the house’s mill- a harmonious palette with sub-
work and its classic Colonial tle changes. I wanted to keep
front door surround. “We were it quiet and serene but to still
going for an authentic look,” give it a sense of color.”
he says. “I wanted it to have a As they have for years, the
“The approach in every room was to provide a backdrop for

the antiques and art,” Guilmet says. “Even the palette was
kept simple.” Above: A late-19th-century heart-in-hand staff
is in the paneled library. Avery Boardman sofa, with Manuel
Canovas fabric. Right: The formal dining room has a portrait
by Sturtevant J. Hamblin. Lee Jofa chair fabric. Brunschwig &
Fils drapery fabric, with Scalamandré trim.

“The rest of the house is high-style country,” says Guilmet,
who worked closely with the wife on the design, “but the
great room is a bit more casual.” The hand-hewn beams are
18th century; the tin chandelier, the bench table and the
horse-and-plow weathervane are all mid–19th century. Ralph
Lauren Home sofas, with Scalamandré fabric.
“We were going for an authentic look.
I wanted it to have a very sophisticated feel.”
couple worked with Bell, an a general in the Revolutionary weathervane seems to point
antiques dealer, to acquire pe- War—that, along with a side- out the window, past a pristine
riod art and furnishings for the board and six of the mahogany parterre with boxwood borders
residence. Such pursuits are in dining chairs, had long been in and brick walkways, by En-
the wife’s blood: “My parents the family’s possession. Guil- glish-born landscape architect
collected antiques, and they met had the chairs copied, Peter Cummin, to the country-
took me around to dealers,” she increasing their number to a side beyond.
says. The couple favor painted dozen, and claims that even he The house remains a work
surfaces, and some of the living can’t tell the new from the old. in progress—as, perhaps, any
room’s more important pieces, The twin chandeliers, redolent antiques lover’s residence must
including an 18th-century tea of 18th-century New England, be. “It’s an evolving project to
table and a pair of circa 1800 are among the few other re- put together a collection of this
Windsor bowback chairs, with productions to be found. caliber,” Guilmet says. “You
their original white paint, fall An evocative circa 1845 have to have people who are
into this category. portrait of Sarah North, by willing to spend time looking
The dining room is centered Sturtevant Hamblin, is one for the right pieces.” Hap-
around a mahogany Federal ta- of a number of folk paint- pily, for this couple, waiting
ble—a piece said to have once ings in the residence. On the for perfection poses no prob-
belonged to Benjamin Lincoln, same wall, a circa 1850 banner lem at all. l
The wallcovering in the master bedroom “makes it feel cozy

without making it dark.” The cherry corner cabinet, circa 1820,
holds a collection of mid-19th-century Pennsylvanian tinware.
The New England hooked rug on the wall is also 19th century.
Schumacher sofa, bed hanging and drapery fabrics. Ralph Lauren
Home bed ticking. Brunschwig & Fils plaid. Above: The pool
pavilion is a copy of an outbuilding in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Wyoming
One Foot in
the Present
reshaping the ranch Aesthetic at
the base of the Grand Teton
Architecture by Celeste Robbins, aia/Interior Design by Berta Shapiro
Text by Jeff Turrentine/Photography by Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
A
rchitect Celeste ties for an architect to test out when she and one of the clients concerned with what the vo-
Robbins had plen- big ideas on tiny lots. took an early trip to view the cabulary would be. My back-
ty of experience But you don’t always get to land on which she would build. ground is as a modernist, and
renovating homes. choose your own destiny. And The snow was packed so high I wasn’t sure how this house
She had just never built one, for Robbins, destiny came in the that snowshoes were in order; would turn out. You don’t find
that’s all. form of a rather daunting com- as they approached the fence a lot of classically modern
For comfort’s sake, she mission: a 9,000-square-foot that surrounded the property, houses in the Jackson area.
might have started out on vacation residence in a place there was no need to unlock Most people here are looking
more familiar turf—maybe in where the only skyscrapers to any gate. “We just walked right to build homes with a more ob-
Winnetka, Illinois, where her be found are actual mountains over it,” she recalls. vious western theme.” What’s
office is located and where and where the moose outnum- The site, with its views of more, the site “was really flat,
she’s completely fluent in the ber the taxis 20 to one: Jack- the majestic Tetons in nearly and there were very few trees.
local architectural vernacular; son, Wyoming. all directions, was inspiring— Putting any new home in the
or in nearby Chicago, a city She realized just how far but also, Robbins says, a little middle of ranchland like that,
that offers endless opportuni- away she was from the big city intimidating. “I was mainly with no trees and no topo-
Celeste Robbins designed a 9,000-square-foot ranch-inspired residence with modern lines (above) for
a family of four in Wyoming’s Grand Teton valley. “It’s a challenge to fit a house into a context and
make it look like it’s always been there,” notes the Winnetka, Illinois–based architect, who collaborated
on the project with interior designer Berta Shapiro. Opposite: A seating area in the great room. Fol-
lowing Pages: “The clients entertain a lot and wanted a casual open area, and that sort of drove the
architecture,” Robbins says of the 52-foot-long great room. Odegard rug. Lounge chair, Sutherland.

graphical grade change, can
be challenging. It’s just right
there; you can see it from the
road, far away.”
The clients, with whom
Robbins had worked before,
shared the architect’s modern
sensibility but were sensitive to
the context. A log cabin, or any-
thing else too self-consciously
western, was out of the ques-
tion. Better to have the house
just blend in to the landscape
as much as possible. “They
wanted something that was
quiet and timeless,” she says.
Quickly a plan came into
focus: two buildings, a main
house and a guesthouse, framed
in rich, dark cedar, with a roof-
line that cleverly references the
modern and the traditional.
Gables honor past architec-
tural styles that have retained
their currency in this quadrant
of the American West; but they
share their duty with modern,
flat roofs extending into dra-
Opposite: Many of the public spac-

es, including the dining area, have
views of the Teton Range. Sentimen-
to lamp. Right: The kitchen. Larsen
fabric on Borge Mögensen chairs.
Barstools, BDDW. Sub-Zero refrig-
erator and Wolf range, at Abt.com.
Rocky Mountain hardware. Below:
The main-floor plan. A separate
guesthouse has an attached garage.
matic eaves that nod to Frank

Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style.
9 8 Robbins also likes how the
7
gabled/flat dichotomy mir-
rors the relationship between
10
the surrounding Teton moun-
tains and the broad, flat valley
11 in which the house sits.
An open-plan interior, natu-
rally, would reinforce the idea
of this house as a spot for fam-
5
4 ily vacations and entertaining.
6 And since there was really no
1 3 such thing as a bad view on
any side of the house, windows
courtesy robbins architecture inc.
1 entrance Hall would be everywhere, facing all

2 library 7 master bedroom 2 directions. Robbins enlisted
3 great room 8 master bath
4 kitchen 9 gym
Chicago-based lighting design-
5 playroom 10 guesthouse er Anne Kustner Haser and the
6 wine room 11 motor court Jackson-based landscape archi-
tectural firm Hershberger De-

“When a residence
is as open to the
landscape as this
one is, you have to
be thinking about
the outside as
much as the inside.”
Opposite: French doors open to sign to help fill out her vision. naissance mission, Robbins areas, in addition to a dining
the master bedroom. Blanche La- (“There aren’t as many contrac- and her client agreed that the area at one end; she knew that
zelle’s 1935 watercolor Vase of Flow-
ers hangs above a 1930s terra-cotta tors to choose from in Jackson as house’s great room would have this room, more than any other
figure and a 1950s Finn Juhl arm- there are in Chicago,” she says, to look out onto Grand Teton. in the house, would be where
chair. Drapery fabric, Rogers & “but the quality of their work The glass in this room is 10 feet the family and their guests
Goffigon. Stark carpet. Above: A
wraparound sandstone terrace. Ban-
is remarkable.”) Interior de- high and 40 feet long, framing would spend most of their
quette cushion fabric, Perennials. signer Berta Shapiro, who had the peak like an IMAX screen in waking hours.
worked with Robbins on the an unusually luxurious theater. “When a residence is as
clients’ house back in Illinois, Shapiro placed identical sofas open to the landscape as this
was again called into service. back to back in order to give one is, you have to be thinking
On that first snowy recon- the clients two separate seating continued on page 206

Prior’s Restraint
Austin T. Miller American Antiques
(www.usfolkart.com; 614-225-
0506) features a rare signed 1849
portrait of a boy, $150,000, by Wil-
liam Matthew Prior. Also at the
Columbus, Ohio, gallery is an 1860–
80 New England quilt, $30,000.
Going for the Goat

A circa 1890 life-size goat, $22,000, at Hill
Gallery was made for the initiation rites of a
lodge outside South Bend, Indiana. During the
hill gallery: jesse hill/courtesy hill gallery; austin t. miller american antiques: courtesy austin t. miller american antiques inc.
ceremony, a potential member sat blindfolded
on the goat. The wheels are not perfectly
round, resulting in a bumpy ride; the rider had
to trust his fellows in order to stay on.
Hill Gallery, 407 W. Brown St.

Birmingham, MI 48009; 248-540-9288
www.hillgallery.com
adrian sassoon: james mortimer; brunschwig & Fils: billy cunningham
For her whimsical

In a Nutshell ceramic pieces,
Adrian Sassoon (www.adriansassoon
.com; 44-20-7581-9888) is a Lon-
Kate Malone is inspired
don dealer renowned for both his
collection of 18th-century Sèvres
by forms found in
porcelain and his range of contem-
porary ceramics, such as a stoneware nature—be it in the sea
walnut, $13,000, by Kate Malone.
or on the land.
Brunschwig
& Fils
Inspired by Suzanni
designs, Dzhambul, a
cotton-and-linen blend
at Brunschwig & Fils
(800-538-1880), is in
six new color combina-
tions, including coral
and green (shown). l
Rhode Island
Ellen Denisevich-Grickis found an 18th-century barn in
Ontario, Canada, and had it relocated to a four-acre plot in
Rhode Island, where she renovated it for use as a summer
house for herself and her husband, Bill Grickis, and their
two daughters. These Pages: A vast wildflower meadow pre-
cedes the 3,000-square-foot residence’s entrance.
Proud Heritage
a 200 -year- old barn is born again
as a designer’s own coastal retreat
Architectural and
Interior Design by
Ellen Denisevich-Grickis
Text by
Steven M. L. Aronson
Photography by
Richard Mandelkorn
A
fter a quarter of a
century’s worth of
renting in coastal
Rhode Island for
the summer, designer Ellen
Denisevich-Grickis and her
husband, corporate lawyer Bill
Grickis, took the plunge and
bought. The property—four
arcadian acres bordered by
conservation land and romanti-
cally strewn with the remnants
of rude stone walls—was just
a short, lyrical bike ride from
the beach.
Theirs being still very much
a farming community, the
couple wanted a house that
was an earnest of the agricul-
tural life—in other words, a
barn. “A barn, with its implicit
integrity and economy, is a
proud silhouette of the past—
its proportions and materials
command respect, even rev-
erence,” Denisevich-Grickis
states. For all that, she sees it
less as an antiquated throwback
than as an abiding symbol of
“shelter, harvest, warmth and
honest effort.” Having made
a thorough and loving study
of neighboring barns, she did
a drawing of the barn of her
heart’s desire and then set out
to reify it.
The “barn scouts” she con-
sulted pointed her all the way
to northern Ontario, promis-
ing that barns in Canada were
generally of higher quality and
191
Above: Part of the barn’s transformation included sheathing the façade in stone—an hom-
age to local farm buildings. Below: The designer’s aim for the living area was to “expose
the monumental wood skeleton, keeping it simple yet powerful.” On the wall behind the
leather sofa, from Natuzzi, is a 2004 oil by Theodore Tihansky. Chandeliers, Studio Steel.
in better shape. “It was the

dead of winter, and we drove
over frozen tundra,” she recalls,
“and then finally we saw it—
this wonderful steep-roofed
barn that had been built into a
hillside. It was 200-plus years
old and in near-perfect condi-
tion—the massive hand-hewn
oak beams, posts and purlins
were all mortised, tenoned and
pegged!” And as if that weren’t
enough, dimensionwise it con-
formed practically to the inch
to what she had imagined and
drawn. “It felt almost foreor-
dained,” she says.
The dismantled barn frame
was soon wending its cumber-
some way south to Rhode Is-
land, where it was set down and
reconstructed in the Grickises’
ravishing wildflower meadow.
The couple then proceeded to
make it more compatible with
the other old barns in the area
by adding a façade of local

Although the installation of a fire- stone. A cupola was also added, for the floors on the first story. one gigantic art project, I can
place in the dining area required to bring light into the open, Denisevich-Grickis “personal- tell you.”
some rearranging of the barn’s
structural supports, “most of the soaring interior, and topped off ized” the freshly poured con- There are precious few ma-
posts and beams were left in their with a weathervane of a bronze crete with pounds of sea glass terials in the barn that are run-
original position,” Denisevich- stylized mermaid created by and abalone shell that she had of-the-mill. The draperies for
Grickis says. The plank walls were
finished with a white milk paint—
Denisevich-Grickis. collected herself, as well as with the big windowed barn doors
one of the interior’s many “green” The designer was deter- chips of mirror and mother- were run up out of burlap and
design features. mined to employ as many of-pearl. “I had on hip boots, tailored like fine fabric, after
“green” materials as possible: and I was standing on wooden which they were hand-sewn
Unmilled oak trees were used planks hand-broadcasting the with more than 1,000 Capiz
to fashion the outdoor din- materials—over a three-day shells, edged with feathers and
ing room’s arbor, handmade period, no less—throwing equipped with shell-bracelet
nontoxic milk paint for the them all in very carefully, be- rings. “I wanted something
vertical-plank interior walls, cause it makes a real difference rough, rustic and natural that
and energy-efficient concrete how you throw them. It was went with the barn,” she points

Top: The upper level’s haylofts were turned into a sitting room and bedrooms, with an iron-framed
bridge in the middle to link them. What wood is not original to the barn was reclaimed from histori-
cal sources. Above: Floral motifs and vibrant color brighten the master bedroom. Left: Intercon-
nected with the living and dining areas, the modern kitchen has floors of concrete mixed with chips
of mirror, mother-of-pearl, abalone shell and sea glass. Hanging above the Shaker-style island
is a Murano glass chandelier. Viking dishwasher, range and hood, at Abt.com.

out. The transom and interior service as the outdoor dining
windows were made of hand- table. Both the frame and stone
blown glass; and the floor of floor of the covered side ter-
the downstairs powder room is race were once part of a nearby
all striped stones (“I call them 18th-century structure that the
lucky stones”) that Denisevich- couple bought (Denisevich-
Grickis garnered from her fa- Grickis painted the frame of
vorite local beach over long its big round window, which
years and individually placed. had originated in a church, a
The barn is particularly nontoxic—that is, a green—
rich in architectural elements red inside).
and fragments—18th-century- A cavernous space 30 feet
Pennsylvania-barn pine doors high triples as living area,
with cutouts in them called hex dining area and kitchen. The
signs (they were believed to master suite nestles behind the
ward off evil spirits); assorted continued on page 196
other 18th-century doors all
with their original blue paint Above: A log arbor—soon to be en-
and hardware; wooden arms, veloped in flowering vines—spans
nearly the width of the shingled rear
fragments of Mexican santos, façade, providing shelter for an out-
wired for use as sconces; and an door dining room. Right: The de-
antique iron gate pressed into signer and her dog, Hope.

Outside the kitchen is a large covered
terrace, the frame of which was taken
from an 18th-century house. Denisevich-
Grickis chose an antique church win-
dow for the gable end. Locally made
Adirondack chairs sit by the fireplace.

A field house in upstate New York
was imagined, in a collaborative
effort, by architect Paul F. Shurtleff,
interior designer Thad Hayes and
landscape architect Douglas Reed.
The lawn, terraced by a stone wall,
echoes the divisions of the build-
ing’s living and pool areas.
New York
Farmhouse Abstraction
A recreational outbuilding mirrors its bucolic setting
Architecture by Paul F. Shurtleff, aia/Interior Design by Thad Hayes/Landscape Architecture by Reed Hilderbrand
Text by Joseph Giovannini/Photography by Scott Frances
L
ook again: Can you structure that landscape archi- yard, a seamless fit with the ver- to grow out of terraced mead-
be absolutely sure tect Douglas Reed, architect nacular farmhouses of the area ows, it’s because the designers
this little farm build- Paul F. Shurtleff and interior and the network of fieldstone first shaped the landscape, and
ing wasn’t already designer Thad Hayes invented walls lacing the landscape. the house followed naturally,
there, and that instead of de- together in upstate New York A house doesn’t always have taking its cue from an existing
signing it, the architect just hasn’t stood forever in its quiet to exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright’s tartan of fieldstone walls and
signed it? state of bucolic grace. With a fingerprints to look organic. If hedgerows. “We were inspired
Freud said the ego didn’t be- slight bend in it, the shed roof the building the three design- by the traditional elements of
lieve in its own birth, and it’s of the light gray outbuilding ers conceived on the footprint the farmstead,” says Doug-
hard to believe that the modest slopes down with the terraced of a demolished stable seems las Reed, of the Boston-area

landscape architecture firm architect terraced the grounds In 2001 the owners, a New The media room has exposed
Reed Hilderbrand. so that the tennis court, motor York couple with two children, trusses of “forest salvage” Douglas
fir and oversize French doors. Ear-
The three had collabo- court, outdoor pool and lawns acquired a nearly three-acre ly-19th-century Italian oak work-
rated here before, designing all occupied their own levels property next door, and they table and triangular stools, Amy
the main house on this rural within the surrounding mead- asked their three designing Perlin Antiques. Lee Jofa drapery
and plaid club chair fabrics. Edel-
property back in 1994 (see Ar- ows. Like a stone dropped in tenors back for an encore. man leather on sofas and ottomans.
chitectural Digest, June 1998). a pond, the house’s footprint Following the lead of the land- Striped fabric on sofa seats from
The architecture itself was created a ripple of rectangles in scape architect, the trio decid- Fonthill. Newel bench, foreground.
inspired by local farmhouses, the grounds around it, rooting ed to visually connect the new
but, importantly, the landscape the house in the land. property with the old by reca-

Above: A circa 1910 iron chandelier hangs in the kitchen. Back-
splash tile, Ann Sacks. Waterworks sink and fixtures. Refriger-
ator, range and hood at Abt.com. Above Right: The pool area
“recalls a traditional agricultural shed,” notes Shurtleff. Halo-
phane lighting, Urban Archaeology. Barlow Tyrie tables and
chaise longues, with Perennials fabric.
Though the field house is a short walk from the main residence,
the challenge, says Hayes, was to make it “a dynamic and in-
teresting space for the clients to go to.” Right: The entrance
hall. Bench from Amy Perlin Antiques. Drapery sheer, Stark.

The wall leading up to the house actually runs through it,
splitting the floor into two levels.
pitulating the fieldstone walls spa. Then came a guest studio. ing, despite traditional forms. form that hybridizes the no-
in the new phase. “We drew a At the end of the whole wish “As soon as you’re dealing tions of farmhouse and barn.
major landscape wall across the list, the clients and architects with a split-level floor plan, The stone wall that cuts
yard to extend the pattern and were looking at a recreational you have an issue of roof form, through the property leads to
join the two properties within field house that had grown to which led me to the idea of a the south façade of the out-
the larger system of retaining 5,000 square feet, and the size simple shed roof, like a tractor building, where big, generous,
walls,” says Reed. “The house demanded that the designers shed tucked in against the side barnlike doors open onto a
straddles the wall.” tamp down the scale so that wall of a barn,” says Shurtleff. great, gabled room focused on
The program started mod- the outbuilding didn’t wag the “The issue was how to make it a fieldstone fireplace worthy of
estly: The clients—she works main house and dominate the feel like an agrarian building. a lodge. A catering kitchen fa-
in film—wanted a screen- new property. If Shurtleff, who It had to feel part of a historic cilitates entertaining. On the
ing room where family and worked as lead architect for past, without being historicist downslope side, the wall lead-
friends could hole up with Jaquelin T. Robertson on the or rustic.” The architect did not ing up to the house actually
popcorn during weekends in original project, was going to design down to the principle by runs through it, splitting the
the country. The husband, retain any sense of authenticity, applying sentimental detailing floor into two levels. The lap
an executive, likes to swim— he couldn’t allow the structure and materials, like logs. Instead pool is sited with the hot tub
as does the whole family, for to balloon: Old farmhouses he abstracted from tradition, on the lower level, which opens
that matter—so an indoor pool were built small to retain creating a straightforward onto a terrace and lawn leading
soon followed. The pool sug- heat, and inflated scale gives building with clean surfaces back to the main building. The
gested a gym, and the gym, a away the newness of a build- and elemental lines within a continued on page 206

The building is clad in cedar siding.
Large doors, which slide open to
reveal the media room, continue
the farmstead theme. “The main
house has a formality,” notes Hayes.
“This one needed to feel more
outdoorsy.” Twig stools, Newel.
invoking an ideal deer cabin reverie
continued from page 138 continued from page 145
entrance hall with a black-and-white body had lived in it for 30 years.” The
checkerboard marble floor leads straight following summer London applied her
onto a library centered on a dignified es- down-home skills to the grounds sur-
cutcheon of white molding celebrating rounding the cabin. “I can’t help it,” says
the view through a tall window. To the the designer. “When I’m at a campsite, I
left lies the master suite and to the right want to play with it. When you go horse
the living room, with the dining room camping, you carry your belongings in a
beyond. All the public rooms, along with mantee, which is a tarplike thing the size
the master suite, are on the first floor. of a bale of hay. So I made some man-
The other three bedrooms are on the tees out of some old pillows they had and
second floor. When the couple have no some canvas, and that’s what their ‘sofas’
guests, it’s basically a one-bedroom house are around the fire pit.”
on the first floor. Deer Cabin, as the Stones call it, has
“In every job I do, I try to think of three answered its multiple purposes—and then
adjectives to describe my intentions, and some. For one thing, the place seems to
here they were stylish, comfortable and au- tap into widespread Little House on the
Prairie fantasies. “Every man, including
my husband, who walks in says, ‘What
The couple keep the doors more do you need?’ ” relates Connie
Stone. “Even people you wouldn’t think
of the house wide open 10 would respond to it want to be there wash-
months of the year. ing the dishes and heating the water and
all that.” With its primitive charms, the
cabin has also served as something of a
thentic,” says O’Leary. She stressed com- petri dish for the rest of the project. For
fort and informality because the couple instance, the other buildings—the lake
keep the doors wide open 10 months of house (a master suite for the couple with
the year, and the free-range dogs drop a bedroom, kitchenette and offices); the
by on casual visits and roam through tree house (a three-bedroom guesthouse);
the house. In this historical context of and the barn (a lodgelike structure with
Virginia, you have to look twice to real-
ize that the designer cuts the edge with
contemporary pieces, such as the dining “Mimi’s talent is that
table with a plaster top and a patinated-
steel base. Despite the traditional chairs, she creates an
the lines overall are clean and softly up to intimate and nurturing
date, eased by natural materials.
O’Leary characterizes the style as environment instinctively,”
“warm modern,” and her palette—pump- says Connie Stone.
kin in the living room, Clydesdale brown
in the library and eucalyptus in the din-
ing room—indeed warms the interior. a big family kitchen, dining room and
“Once we realized the outside was going living room)—have all been designed
to have columns, that it’d be a white house with screened sleeping porches and out-
with black trim, I knew we’d have a lot of door showers.
color inside,” she explains. “I was inter- If all goes according to schedule, the last
ested in the contrast.” of these structures should be completed
In addition to the multiple architectural this month. Which raises the question of
personalities, there were the multiple de- what purpose the cabin will serve in the
sign voices working in concert from the future. “Everyone still wants to spend the
beginning. “We picked our focal points night there,” maintains Connie Stone.
and tried not to have too many things “I’m just not sure I’m going to want to
to look at,” adds O’Leary. “I asked Joel share it that much. You know how when
whether he designed from the outside in you meditate they tell you to go to a safe
or the inside out, and he said that it all place in your mind? I hate to sound woo-
came up together. That’s how we did the woo, but I think no matter how amazing
whole house. The exterior, interior and the the rest of the property is, Deer Cabin is
décor all came up together.” l always going to be my safe place.” l

in the present proud heritage farmhouse
continued from page 187 continued from page 196 continued from page 203
about the outside as much as the inside,” living area. Stairs—made out of the sur- sloping shed roof, as though appended to a
says Shapiro. “You’re dealing with so much plus timbers, with a handrail contrived of small barn, allowed the designers to build
sky, so much land—and all of it accompa- twigs gathered on the property—lead to a down rather than up, hunkering the vol-
nied by coloration that’s constantly chang- sitting room. From there a bridge, which ume into the land. “We knitted the func-
ing from dawn until there’s no light left offers a bird’s-eye view of the barn’s im- tions together into a compact volume so
in the day.” (Robbins, who says she can pressive wooden skeleton, connects to the the building wouldn’t dominate the site,”
“feel the muscles in my shoulders relax two teenage daughters’ bedrooms. says the architect.
every time I touch down on the airport “With the decorating, I wanted to go To keep the large house looking small,
in Jackson,” was delighted to learn that modern—I didn’t want that hokey barn Shurtleff practiced a little deception, not-
the architecture offered views she hadn’t wagon-wheel look on the inside,” De- ing, “If you pump up the scale of the com-
even counted on. “There were some that I nisevich-Grickis says. The farm spirit is ponents, you bring the scale down in size.”
wasn’t expecting,” she says. “When you’re vestigially manifest in an antique apple- He increased the size of the barn doors on
in the guesthouse and you sit down, you picking ladder and an antique milking the leading façade, along with the windows
can actually see over the main house to and fireplace inside.
the peaks of the mountains.”) Thad Hayes also practiced some adroit
Shapiro took her palette cues from this deception by scaling up the apparently
protean natural canvas, emphasizing the
“I had on hip boots, modest furniture, and he kept it simple,
blues, greens and earth colors that predom- and I was standing on with several pieces of the same size that
inate in the vistas. Because the clients and he repeats. As in many of his interiors, the
their family “wanted to live comfortably,
wooden planks hand- furniture layout is geometric and struc-
not preciously” in their house, she chose broadcasting the materials. tured, cued by the axial geometries of the
fabrics “that were durable but refined:
linen, leather, velvet, good wool rugs.”
It was one gigantic building. The consistent horizon line of
the sofas and chairs orders an interior al-
And so was born an undeniably western art project, I can tell you.” ready calmed by geometry. “Our clients
house that doesn’t have to rely on Navajo were very easygoing, but the one require-
rugs or cowboy-themed statuary to prove ment was that the room accommodate a
its regional bona fides. (No framed sets bench—both, naturally, with their original mix of uses,” says Hayes. “It needed to look
of antlers here, though there is a striking paint. But much of the rest of what’s there like a living room part of the time, and for
charcoal rendering of a moose in the en- is a pleasant variety, the designer having
trance hall.) Instead, Robbins and Shapiro taken care that nothing disrupt the fit-
have been able to translate the urbane re- tingness of things. A contemporary Ital-
ian leather sofa and a Murano chandelier
The size demanded that
that “speaks to some of the other quirky the designers tamp down
things in the house” are at home with an
She likes how the gabled/ antique grain-painted blanket chest and
the scale so the outbuilding
flat dichotomy mirrors an old English oak turned-leg drop-leaf didn’t wag the main house.
dining table. The paintings and sculpture,
the relationship between for their part, are contemporary—all done
the surrounding Tetons by Theodore Tihansky, of Monhegan is- screening movies, the furniture—which is
and the broad, flat valley in land, Maine, whom Bill Grickis describes
as a “pure, unvarnished, diamond-in-the-
oriented to the view out the barn doors
and to the fireplace—can be reoriented
which the house sits. rough kind of artist.” toward the screen,” he says. What feels
The couple collect Oriental rugs, and like a lodge becomes transformed into a
there are a handful of these upstairs, cloth- home theater.
finement that they and their clients have ing the old wide-plank pine floorboards, “It’s not so much a summer room, be-
always prized into a stylistic language that’s lending warmth and color. “When you cause it’s used when it’s cooler, in the fall,
easily absorbed into the rugged moun- look at an antique Oriental carpet,” Grickis winter and spring,” says Hayes. He employs
tain vernacular. observes, “you always see something you a warm palette of darker, richer materials
If Celeste Robbins—who celebrated, if hadn’t noticed before, and it’s the same and colors, appropriate for the seasonal
that’s the right word, her 40th birthday story with the barn—the light that filters use. A blue plaid on the chairs plays off
dealing with the project’s contractors— through the windows and pours down the leather sofas, which have seat cushions
was wondering whether she truly knocked from the cupola illuminates the queen in fabric panels—a two-tone mix that re-
it out of the park her first time at bat, the posts and purlins and other elements of calls 1930s and ’40s automobile seating.
clients’ reaction put any questions to rest. the barn’s superstructure in all different “I designed it so they could just build
“They had intended for this to be a sec- ways, depending on the time of day.” l a fire, watch a movie and eat popcorn
ond home,” she notes. “But they ended up without worrying that buttery fingers
moving out here full time.” For more features on renovated barns, go to would ruin the décor,” summarizes Hayes.
Not bad for a beginner. l ArchitecturalDigest.com. “There’s nothing precious about it.” l

Directory
A listing of the designers, architects and hotels featured in this issue
invoking an ideal Peter Cummin

Pages 131–139 Cummin Associates, Inc.
Ike Kligerman Barkley 114 Water Street
Architects PC Stonington, Connecticut 06378
330 West 42nd Street 860-535-4224
New York, New York 10036 www.cumminassociates.com
212-268-0128
one foot in the present
Renée O’Leary Interiors Pages 180 –187
1815 East Green Springs Road Celeste Robbins
Louisa, Virginia 23093 Robbins Architecture Inc.
540-967-9242 894 Green Bay Road, Suite 8
oldraptorfarm@gmail.com Winnetka, Illinois 60093
847- 446-8001
deer cabin reverie www.robbins-architecture.com
Pages 140 –147
Mimi London Berta Shapiro
London Boone 925 West Huron Street
Incorporated Design Suite 101
8687 Melrose Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60622
Suite G-168 312- 492-9700
Los Angeles, California 90069
Hershberger Design
310-855-2567
www.mimilondon.com 560 South Glenwood Street
Jackson Hole, Wyoming 83001
seaside sanctuary 307-739-1001
Pages 150 –157 www.hershbergerdesign.com
Joseph W. Dick—
Proud heritage
Architecture—Inc.
Pages 190 –197
17 Summer Street
Ellen Denisevich-Grickis
Yarmouthport
185 Carmel Hill Road
Massachusetts 02675
Bethlehem, Connecticut 06751
508-362-1309
www.josephwdick.com 203-266-7857
an anthology of folk JamesHyatt Studio TED TURNER ellengrickis@charter.net
Pages 42–48 1530 16th Street, Third Floor Pages 118–130 inner directed
Malcolm Robertson Denver, Colorado 80202 Chris Carson farmhouse abstraction
Pages 158 –167
Robertson & Landers 303-825-2010 Ford Powell & Carson Pages 198–204
S. Russell Groves
Architects Architects and Planners, Inc. Paul Francis Shurtleff
210 11th Avenue, Suite 502
59 Grove Street, Suite 2D Laurie Lewis Design 1138 East Commerce Street AIA Architect
New York, New York 10001
New Canaan 3935 Lyceum Avenue San Antonio, Texas 78205 88 North Hillside Place
212-929-5221
Connecticut 06840 Los Angeles, California 90066 210-226-1246 www.srussellgroves.com Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
203-966-2617 310-827-4892 www.fpcarch.com 201- 445-8283
www.robertsonandlanders.com www.laurielewisdesign.com capturing traditions
Laura Hunt Pages 170 –179 Thad Hayes, Inc.
san ysidro ranch Sally Paul Design 30 Highland Park Village 80 West 40th Street
Patrick James Burke Architect
Pages 70 –76 2516 Midvale Avenue Suite 210 New York, New York 10018
P.O. Box 264
San Ysidro Ranch Los Angeles, California 90064 Dallas, Texas 75205 212-571-1234
New Vernon, New Jersey 07976
900 San Ysidro Lane 310-475-2885 214-526-4868 www.thadhayes.com
973-539-4777
Santa Barbara, California 93108 a winning design www.laurahunt.com pburkearchitect@aol.com Douglas Reed
800-368-6788 for oscar® Reed Hilderbrand
www.sanysidroranch.com Jennifer Bear David Guilmet
Pages 90–92 Confluence Designs Patrick Bell Associates Inc.
Marc Appleton Carleton Varney 1401 Old Santa Fe Trail, Suite G Bell-Guilmet Associates 741 Mount Auburn Street
Appleton & Associates, Inc. Dorothy Draper & Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 P.O. Box 38 Watertown
1556 17th Street Company, Inc. 505-603-4565 Solebury, Pennsylvania 18963 Massachusetts 02472
Santa Monica, California 90404 60 East 56th Street www.confluencedesigns.com 215-297-8977 617-923-2422
310-828-0430 New York, New York 10022 www.bellguilmet.com www.reedhilderbrand.com l
212-758-2810
117 West Micheltorena Street www.dorothydraper.com
Santa Barbara, California 93101
805-965-0304
www.appleton-architects.com
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THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF DESIGn june 2008

Cover: A shingled cot-

170 Capturing Traditions

180 One Foot in the Present

190 Proud Heritage

198 Farmhouse Abstraction

Interior Design by Thad Hayes

The historic San Ysidro

Departments 96 Design Notebook:

34 Contributors 106 Estates for Sale: Editors Select

58 Art Notebook: Native Beauties

90 Design Notebook: Finds for collectors: an

14 Visit ArchitecturalDigest.com for more

executive editor: Margaret Dunne

Published by Condé Nast Publications

4 Times Square, New York, New York 10036

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF DESIGN

vice president and publisher: Giulio Capua

Seaside,” April 2008). Spring Fling

in-flight entertainment A Toronto dining

The editors invite your comments, suggestions and criticisms.

30 Visit ArchitecturalDigest.com for more

robert reck (“Ted Tur- jean strouse (“Seaside Sanctu-

steven M. L. aronson (“Proud Heri- Steve Hall (“One Foot in the

38 Visit ArchitecturalDigest.com for more

continued from page 42 colm Robertson, of Robert-

Above: Tucked under the roof, the mezzanine serves as a seat-

continued from page 46

there should be buses leaving ev-

when exactly did you promise it to

continued from page 58

how did you get into indian—i

Left: Buckskin, glass beads and tin cones

cent thing: There are sea lion whiskers

San Ysidro Ranch

Purchased by Ty Warner in 2000, San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Cali-

continued from page 70

“We preserved the architectural fea-

Above Left: A bedroom of the restored Kennedy Cottage, where

continued from page 74 he explains. With the assistance

Rock and Roll Le Trianon, 1854 N. Main St., Sheffield, MA 01257

Scalamandré Found Marbles

Mondo Cane Inc., 174 Duane St., New York, NY 10013

Abstract floral designs and a

Big Top Memories

Helen Warren Spector Antiques, 713-927-6444

Helen warren Spector antiques: courtesy helen warren spector antiques

Architectural Digest’s Green Room at the Academy Awards ®

Left: Backstage at the

Interior Design by Carleton Varney of Dorothy Draper & Company

Spreading Out in Santa Fe

Left: Paintings by Roy Anderson and saddles by

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Left: Cowboy chaps

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Top: The cantina was dubbed “La Tinaja de Mi-

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I n 1892 businessman John

Florida Barrier Island Opulence Among the Palm Trees

T he first impression one

MEXICO Ocean View on the Rocks in Cabo San Lucas

florida: courtesy corcoran group real estate; mexico: michael calderwood

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF DESIGn june 2008

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